Heartache
by DawnToSunset
Summary: Naruto comes close to crossing the threshold of death's door only to recover and begin the search to answer the questions his attacker left him. Will Naruto solve this mystery and ultimately save Konoha from the path of destruction?
1. The Beginning

Hello! Lauren speaking, just to let you know this is the same story I previously started years ago but never actually finished…haha…So I've deleted the old story and am currently in the process of improving the chapters I've completed and coming up for ideas for the new ones. I am determined to finish it this time and if you would review my story and leave comments and constructive criticism I'm sure they'd be a lot of help. **I can't improve if someone doesn't tell me what to improve upon**, so please, I'm open to suggestions. And if you encouraged me I'd probably get chapters out sooner ;) Haha, but really, I've been a stranger to fanfiction for so long and I'm just trying to get my writing style back so I hope you enjoy reading this! And by the way, this is set in the Shippuden time period a.k.a after the time skip.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

** Blood** dripped down his chest, soaking his orange jacket in the sticky warm substance. He was surprised he was still conscious and was even able to make it to her house with all of the injuries he's sustained. Looking up from the porch where he had collapsed he saw a plain white door, belonging to a very important someone's house. He gathered up his strength and raised his hand only to have it drop down on the floor again. He was losing strength and suddenly realized that he could really die this time. Gasping for breath, he chuckled at the irony and closed his eyes finally giving in to unconsciousness. Almost as though she was hearing his silent pleas for help the person inside the house, who was currently looking at an old photo album, got up and walked to the door with a strange feeling compressing her chest. Each step she took seemed like a step closer to hell, the feeling of dread and panic rising and taking over. Her breath started to come in rasps as she put her hand on the door knob and opened the door. She gasped and automatically took a step forward; what she saw made her life go into a deadly spiral; there Naruto laid, blood-drenched and wounded in front of her, slowly clinging on to the precious moments of life that were so valuable to him. Sakura bent down close to Naruto's face to check to see if he was still breathing. Once she heard the small sound of air being sucked in and out of his nose she let out a sigh of relief, but instead of easing her worry she only started to panic more.

"Naruto! Naruto what happened, are you alright? What's going on?"

The only response she got back was the silent rise and fall of his chest, drenched in blood. Was he unconscious? Using her strength she lifted him off of the ground and brought him to the hospital, sprinting full out in fear of her teammate's imminent death. Bursting into the main doors she slid to a stop at the counter holding her friend on her shoulders, gasping for breath and trying to tell the receptionist what happened, but the lady at the counter, after seeing the blood drip on the floor from the badly wounded boy, ran off in the opposite direction. What happened next was just a blur of colors for Sakura as Tsunade, the honorable fifth hokage, came running down the halls, took Naruto as quickly as possible from Sakura and rushed down to the emergency hall.

Sakura fell to the ground and clutched at her heart. Nurses were running about shouting for doctors or lashing out instructions while Sakura just sat there her breath ragged and uncontrolled. The image of Naruto covered in blood and barely alive kept flashing across her closed eye-lids. Her hands balled into fists and she staggered upward, putting one foot in front of the other.

_What happened to him?_

She stumbled down the hallway, occasionally running into a wall or a random nurse. The shouts and screams just passed right through; shock had consumed her and she could hear nothing. Only one thought was racing through her mind right now.

_What happened? _

More doctors ran past the Sakura as she made her way down the hall, patients randomly popped their heads out of their wards to check what all the commotion was about. Suddenly she started running, she didn't know where she was going but running was the only thing she could do. As she was running down the white hallway she ran into a nurse, almost knocking her down and falling to the ground herself.

"Watch where you're going!" The nurse harshly shouted and scuttled back toward the entrance to once again return to her duties. Sakura just sat there, mind totally blank. Nothing was connecting; her body felt heavy…what should she do? Suddenly a yell could be heard, echoing off the plain clean walls of the hospital.

"I don't give a damn if he has the Kyuubi in him, if you won't treat him then leave this room and never come back!"

_That was Tsunade!_

A swarm of doctors ran out from the hall to her right and fled out the hospital doors. Sakura steadied herself and ran quickly down the hall. She ran past the door and only just caught herself on the frame, banging her knees on the ground in the process. Not caring enough to get out of her uncomfortable position, she poked her head in the room. Doctors were panicking, grabbing random instruments only to set them down again; nurses were scribbling things down onto their clipboards and Tsunade was furious, her hands lit up with green chakra.

Everywhere and everything was in complete and utter chaos. Doctors moved out of the way, letting Sakura get a glimpse of the still figure on the bed. She gasped and turned all the way around, the panic coming back full force. Naruto was lying on the blood-stained sheets with a gaping hole in his side. Sakura could even see two of his ribs; she cringed at the thought of it. Who could have caused so much damage to him? Then it occurred to her. _Sasuke._ She heard more shouts from the room. She twisted her head back so fast she cracked it. Tsunade was yelling at the doctors, everything was so loud but she could still make out the words.

"His pulse is gone, someone get the defibrillator, hurry!"

Sakura's heart went still._ His…his pulse…gone?_ Everything started moving in slow motion. Tsunade reached for the defibrillator and banged it down on his chest.

"Clear!"

She did it a second time, and a third. When all hope seemed lost Naruto re-awakened on the fourth try, coming back from the dead in violent coughs. Tsunade looked like she was about to break down but continued working, injecting a fluid by needle so he would sleep again. _That was close…too close!_ Sakura turned back around and stared at the blank walls in front of her. _What am I doing? I'm a medic-nin I can help!_

She suddenly stood and came crashing into the room jumping beside Tsunade and gathering her chakra up. Tsunade wasn't surprised, she just looked at Sakura and said, "Took 'ya long enough." Sakura's hands lit with green chakra and she started moving them over Naruto's head, trying to calm the fever that he had acquired.

"What's the status report My Lady?" Sakura asked.

"Well…so far we've diagnosed that he has a 103 degree fever, five broken ribs, 2 fractures, one in his wrist, and one on his femur, a concussion, Pneumonia, from being out in the cold rain for so long, and well…yeah the gaping hole in his side." Tsunade replied her voice cracking and her eyes full of concern for the blonde laying in front of her. Sakura almost fainted; it would be a miracle if he was to recover from all of this. She looked around; one doctor was working on his fractures, another on his ribs, another one injecting medicine, Tsunade trying to stop the bleeding in his side, and she was containing his raging fever.

Hours went by, and yet everyone in the room was working just as hard as they had been hours ago. She looked at the heart monitor, his heart was beating at a fast pace, certainly not healthy. She placed a thermometer in his mouth with her hand while the other one stayed on his head, healing him. His temperature was 98.3. She sighed, and reported it to the Hokage. Tsunade smiled, and looked down at her work. His side was covered in flesh again, thanks to the foxes amazing healing powers, and his bleeding had stopped a long time ago. She took her hands off his side and looked at the other doctors expecting status reports.

"I've cured his fractures Lord Hokage"

"His pneumonia is under control Lord Hokage; I've done the best I could"

"3 out of the 5 ribs have been healed Lord Hokage"

Tsunade stood tall, her hands on her hips, and a defiant look in her eyes.

"Naruto Uzumaki is in stable condition…we've done good guys, take a break"

The doctors left the room, leaving Sakura and Tsunade behind, staring down at Naruto with a worried expression on their faces. They both looked down at Naruto's pained face and sighed.

_Naruto…what happened? _


	2. Waiting

Okay Everyone! Here is chapter 2; sorry it took awhile to get out my internet has been especially crappy lately. Plus, I kind of struggled with this chapter, I pretty much had to rewrite everything and I couldn't find a good place to stop. So hopefully it doesn't show and you enjoy reading it (: Please say if there was anything you didn't like in the chapter or if I should explain something more, I always get super happy when my stories get reviews. Oh, and this is obviously before Orochimaru and all the rest die so some information might seem wrong but it's just because the people in the story don't know about it yet or it hasn't happened. Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Waiting…

**The** town was in a peaceful slumber, the majority of the population sleeping soundly in their beds waiting for the dawn of a new day and completely unaware of the threat coming close to its borders.

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Just miles away from the fire country's border, Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke's older brother who is notorious for 'single-handedly' wiping out the Uchiha clan, sat on the ground discussing their next destination with his partner Kisame Hoshigaki. They were to continue their search for the Bijuu, moving out of their safe haven, the water country, and capture whatever host they were assigned to next. On the way, however, they were to make a quick stop in the fire country. Kisame, already used to Itachi's mysterious way of doing things wasn't bothered when he was denied an answer as to why they were going to the fire country. He had, after all, disappeared a week prior totally abandoning his Akatsuki duties and doing what he assumed was 'personal business'. The Leader wasn't particularly worried by this so Kisame had also assumed he knew whatever it was Itachi was planning on doing and even though it annoyed the hell out of him, he didn't really care about what Itachi did so long as he could have his fun with their next victim. So, after finalizing their plans and getting their assignment, both Itachi and Kisame started heading in the direction of the Fire Country where thunderclouds lay overhead, moving ominously towards Konoha.

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Back in Konoha, daylight was approaching and lights were slowly starting to pop up in windows throughout the streets. One window in particular had been aglow for hours, acting as a beacon throughout the night. This window was in the bottommost left corner of the hospital, and its occupant was Naruto Uzumaki. Along with the boy was one more inhabitant, curled up in a small ball and asleep on a chair. Throughout the night she had been tossing and turning about, face constantly tense as the endless stream of thoughts flowed in her head. Only at 4 a.m. was she able to relax and get in about an hour of dreamless sleep. Unfortunately that hour didn't do much and as the lazy early summer sun crept in through the window, stretching across the wall, Sakura's mind started to wake as well.

Her foot twitched and her eyes slowly opened, blinking to adjust to the light. She sat up and looked around drowsily, rubbing her eyes and emitting a large yawn. She slowly got up from the chair and went over to Naruto's bedside, staring at his resting face. Carefully sitting down on the edge of the bed, Sakura frowned as last night came rushing back. Naruto near death showing up at her doorstep, the chaos at the hospital, working endlessly to heal his wounds…all of it was just so horrific and something she wanted to forget. Sure, she had seen Naruto have some pretty close calls before but nothing like that; never again did she want to experience the sheer panic that filled her body at the sight of Naruto as he lay on a hospital bed, chest jumping each time the defibrillator shocked his heart. She got up from the bed and walked to the bathroom, suddenly nauseous. Putting her hands on either side of the sink, Sakura bent over and rested her forehead against the cool marble countertop. _Breathe… just breathe_ she thought to herself. She spent about ten minutes like that until a growl coming from her stomach interrupted her thoughts. Rinsing her face and re-working her hair into a ponytail, Sakura left the room and headed towards the cafeteria. All she needed was a bagel to fill her stomach and she'd be better…hopefully.

Ordering her bagel and strawberry flavored cream cheese (one of the bonuses of working at the hospital in her free time was the free meals she got at the cafeteria) Sakura sat down at one of the tables. Since it was only 6 in the morning, the place was basically deserted. Patients and other staff didn't come down to eat until around 7 so she had plenty of time to eat her breakfast and mull things over. Whenever she had the time to sit down and think about things, Sakura always went back to the time when Team 7 was happy. When she and Naruto had graduated from the academy, they were assigned to a squad, Team 7, and Kakashi had been their squad leader. There was one other person that had been on their team, however, and his name was Sasuke Uchiha. Almost three years ago he ran away from the village seeking power and breaking his bonds with everything that had to do with the leaf. Now he is a 'subject' under Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin. His ultimate goal in life is to kill his older brother, who had mercilessly killed his whole clan, and then restore his clan to its former glory. He is an avenger, and that desire drove him to almost kill his best friend, Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto and Sasuke were always arguing and never got along, but they pushed each other to improve and eventually ended up as…best friends in a way. Ever since the day he ran away, she and Naruto have been training like crazy to rescue him and bring him home.

So far, every one of their missions…had failed. But they will never give up, and they will bring Sasuke back no matter what it takes. Wrinkles appeared on her forehead as she stared down at the crumbs that had once been her bagel. Why aren't they strong enough to bring him back? They have both trained under one of the legendary Sannin just like Sasuke has, so why can't they bring him back? Sakura knew Sasuke was being pulled deeper and deeper into the dark, she could tell when they invaded Orichimaru's hideout that his eyes were even colder now. She didn't want him to be sucked in, she knew he was good…she just knew it. If only Itachi was dead, then he would come back right? Sakura picked up her plate and threw it away, walking back to the room. Somehow, the thought of Itachi dead only worried her, I mean that was the whole reason Sasuke left in the first place, to gain power and kill his brother, to avenge his clan. _So, why does that thought bother me?_

Other than wanting Sasuke back, Itachi's death would be great for Naruto as well, seeing that Itachi's one of the people hunting him down to extract the nine-tails from his body. Akatsuki…the whole organization needed to be destroyed, until they were Naruto would never be truly safe. Sighing, Sakura opened the door to Naruto's room and sat back down on the chair next to his bed. Being trained under Lady Tsunade definitely had its benefits, not only had she learned amazing medical ninjutsu, super strength and chakra control but knowledge as well. The last two years she's been through every restricted book in the office, digging up information on everything that might help get Sasuke back. That's when she learned about Naruto and the Akatsuki. It's a good thing Tsunade understood her need for information or else she'd be in serious trouble; Sakura was sure Tsunade knew about all the times she secretly borrowed a book or scroll but chose to ignore it. A couple times she'd actually give her hints or let slip recent information that had come in through the intelligence group. Smiling for the first time in what seemed like days, she laid her head on the armrest to see if she could get in anymore sleep.

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Days passed without any sign of Naruto waking up; doctors checked in occasionally and Sakura continued to spend the majority of her time at the hospital. On the third evening since his admittance Sakura brought a book, determined to stay up the entire night so she'd be there when he woke up. She wasn't exactly sure when he was going to wake up; Tsunade had guessed it'd be soon, but no one could of course tell exactly when. Usually you can tell if someone's going to wake up when their toes and the like start twitching and his were doing a lot of that lately. But what she really wanted was to be the first person he saw when he woke up, I mean she did save him after all and she was sure he was going to need someone to fill him in on everything that happened. _Everything that happened since he got here at least…_No one knew what happened to Naruto, where he was when he got attacked that day or who did it to him. That was something totally dependent on him because without his memory of what happened they had absolutely no leads. They only knew that at the estimated time that Naruto got attacked, he was coming back from a low ranked mission. It couldn't have happened too far away from the village either because even with his willpower he wouldn't have been able to make it too far with the wounds that he had sustained.

Sakura sighed and laid her book on the nightstand next to his bed. It was already 2:30 in the morning and he still wasn't awake. Yawning and moving her chair close to the bed Sakura reached for his hand and squeezed it gently.

"Naruto, won't you wake up soon…please?" Sakura asked, scooting closer and resting her head on his chest. Yawning again, she closed her eyes and relaxed against the steady beat of his heart. If there was anything that she would want to never go away it would be the sound of Naruto's heart…

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Flashes of different scenes were shooting through his head, non-stop like a never ending nightmare. Screams, cries of agony, sobs and the crazed laughter of a murderer could be heard, echoing in the recesses of his mind. _Make it stop, make it stop! _Naruto cried, trying to cover his eyes. _Oh no Naruto, you're going to watch all of it, watch helplessly as all of your dear beloved ones die in front of you. _His dark voice replayed over and over along with the scenes that tortured his sleeping mind. He was trapped and there was nothing he could do about it. Suddenly, everything stopped and he became aware of other sounds and the pitch darkness was slowly ebbing into a lighter color.

The slow tempos of a sleeping body seeped into his mind, relaxing and calm; then he realized there was something warm over his torso and if he squinted he could just make out a blob of pink. _Wait, pink? _Blinking to clear his vision some more, Naruto adjusted his head and winced at how stiff it was, in fact his whole body was stiff, like he had been lying in the same exact position for days. Blinking some more he saw the sterile white walls and heard the beeping of what he guessed was some sort of machine. Ah crap, white walls and beeping machines…he was definitely in the hospital, but why? Oh well, he'd think about that later, first he needed to get Sakura off his chest, it was kind of hard to breathe.

"Hey, Sakura, you awake?" All he got in return was a soft mumble and a twitch of her finger. With a slight shock he realized her hand was holding onto his. Willing away a blush he looked away from their hands. He must've been beat up pretty badly for her to be like this he thought to himself. Raising his voice a little louder Naruto squeezed her hand and tried to wake her up again.

"Sakura! Wake up would you? It's kind of hard to breath!"

Suddenly waking up from her nap, Sakura's head snapped up and she stared at Naruto.

"Am I…still dreaming?" she asked, still a little out of it.

"Um…I don't think so," Naruto grinned, a little pleased that he had been in her dream.

"Oh…wait, I'm not! Oh, Naruto!" Sakura practically bounced out of her seat and captured Naruto in a vice grip around his neck. She couldn't believe it! Naruto was finally awake! Words couldn't explain how happy she was, finally Naruto was awake and finally they could get some answers! It was then that she realized he had seen her sleeping face AND until just a few moments ago their hands were still intertwined. Sakura was thankful that her face was hidden from his viewbecause she could feel a blush creeping up on her cheeks. _Oh well, it's not like those things haven't happened before._

"Ack! Sakura, a little sore here," Naruto said, wincing as he tried to straighten into a sitting position.

"Ahaha, sorry but you have no idea how long you've been out for," she said, leaning back and unable to keep the smile off her face.

"That long huh? I bet you and Granny Tsunade were going crazy with worry," Naruto jokingly said, glancing at Sakura and not quite pulling off the nonchalant attitude he wanted. He automatically shut up, however, when he saw the face Sakura was giving him. _Wow, I guess I really was that bad._

Sakura looked down at her hands, folded in her lap. _You have no idea…_ She looked back up and attempted to put on a smile, "Yea well, you always worry us…by the way, we have no idea what happened to you Naruto. You showed up at my doorstep inches away from death, actually you really did almost die you know!" She glanced up at his face and saw that he wasn't very surprised. Did this mean that he remembers what happened to him? "We had to use the defibrillator on you…Naruto…what happened?"

Naruto looked her straight in the eye and what she saw scared her. There was that same sadness that was always there no matter how hard he tried to hide it but his eyes held no traces of happiness. Instead, fear had replaced it and a sorrow so great it almost made her catch her breath. She has never seen this expression in his eyes before…and it scared her. Naruto just sat there, staring just above her shoulder at the wall, caught in his memory and completely unaware of his surroundings. He was in a trance and she knew he was remembering what had happened…and she realized there was nothing she could do to shake him out of it. Slowly getting up and walking towards the door, she pulled it open and took one last glance at Naruto before flying out the hospital doors and heading towards the Hokage's office.


	3. I remember

**Hello there! It's been a really long time since I've updated, I know, and I'm soooooo sorry about it, I don't really have an acceptable excuse and even if I did you wouldn't have cared anyways. But, it's out, so I hope you like it and please tell me if I made a mistake somewhere or something! I'd really appreciate some reviews too, if you don't mind :) **_

Chapter 3: I Remember

**In The Konoha Hospital:**

**There** was something that kept tugging at the back of his mind as Sakura was talking to him, pulling him out of the present. He could see Sakura looking at him and he vaguely wondered if she had asked him a question but his mind was a bit foggy and he wasn't entirely sure what was going on. He was in the hospital, he knew that but what he couldn't remember was how he got there. Did he pass out again during training? Wait, no that couldn't be it, Sakura said he was close to dying, I mean sure he's been close to that before because of training but this time she made it seem like someone had attacked him or something. Then it hit him; attacked…he was attacked! Suddenly everything came rushing back to him, the force of it so intense he felt like he got the wind knocked out of him. It was hard to breathe and his mind shut out the white walls of the hospital, he couldn't see anything but the nightmare he was forced to endure.

He remembered coming back from a C-ranked mission where he had to escort a group of fisherman to their fishing village in the Tea country. A horribly boring and long mission in his opinion; he realized that they needed to be protected from thieves and the like but what he didn't understand was why he had to be the one to do it. Why was he doing this when he could be tracking down some Akatsuki scum? He remembered getting close to the Konoha, about a quarter mile out in fact, when he started getting suspicious. First of all he wasn't passing anyone who would be on their way in or out of the village; and Konoha was always busy seeing that it was the biggest village in the Fire Country and the village with the most ninjas. Second of all there weren't any animals nearby so that always means trouble. It also felt like he wasn't going anywhere when he knew he should be seeing the gates by now. Naruto stopped and listened for anything that would indicate that he was just outside of his village and heard nothing, not the presence of an animal nor the hustle and bustle of the village. That was when he knew he was already under a genjutsu. Putting his hands together he tried releasing his chakra to cancel it out. When he did so he noticed that someone was in the woods to his left so, still trapped in the genjutsu, Naruto turned and decided to directly find out who was responsible for this.

"I know you're in there, stop hiding like a weakling and face me!"

"Be careful what you say Naruto or else you might end up biting off more than you can chew"

Naruto ended up making a hissing sound as he sucked in air through his teeth, surprised at the voice that just emitted from the dark forest. He could never mistake that tone; Itachi Uchiha has come to Konoha. He instantly felt his body rise in temperature as his anger rose, hands balled in fists and his legs tensing into a fighting stance. He knew he was trapped in his genjutsu but he didn't care, all he wanted to do was beat the crap out of the man who ruined the life of his best friend and was part of the organization that almost killed Gaara. His eyes narrowed as Itachi stepped out from behind a tree and moved forward, facing Naruto about ten feet away. Naruto carefully put his hand on his shuriken pouch, ready to attack at any time.

Itachi noticed this and shook his head, "Naruto, don't be so foolish, surely you already know you're in my genjutsu, any attacks are futile."

Naruto tsked, moved his hand away and pointed his finger at Itachi, "What do you want! If you're after the Kyuubi, you aren't going to get him!"

Itachi sighed, "Rather than capturing you, I'm here to show you something."

_Show me something?_ Naruto had about a second warning before he was hurled into darkness, completely at the mercy of Itachi's genjutsu.

He fell into the darkness until his feet met level ground, he couldn't see anything, not even the fingers in front of his own face. He closed his eyes and concentrated, he searched for any sign of life or the faintest hint of chakra, and after finding none he opened his eyes. As soon as his eyes opened, all of his senses came back to him. He gasped and his mind went blank, there in front of him, Konoha was burning to the ground, people were screaming, ninjas were fighting as huge snakes ravished the town. He seemed to glide into the village, seeing scene upon horrible scene.

A child struck by a kunai here, a woman screaming as she burned inside her own home there. Panic struck at his heart and he felt sick, the smell of burning flesh made him want to vomit. He tried to move his legs to run somewhere but his body refused to move, completely under the control of Itachi, so instead he just stood there silently, trapped in his horrible genjutsu. He glided past the academy and saw Ebisu, Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi fighting a sound ninja. Another ninja came up from behind with a huge shuriken and aimed it at Konohamaru. Naruto tried to yell but nothing came out and he watched as Konohamaru was sliced in half, the rest of his team following suit.

Suddenly, tears fell un-controllably from his face as he watched the sound ninja jump off leaving their lifeless remains behind. _This is just a genjutsu,_ he kept telling himself as Itachi moved his body further and further through the village. He then came upon Shizune, Asuma and Kurenai each fighting a member of the Akatsuki. This didn't make any sense, why would the Akatsuki and Orochimaru team up? Was destroying Konoha really that important to the both of them? These thoughts left his mind as he watched his friends die, one by one before him. By now he was shaking uncontrollably, forcing himself to remain calm, and reminding himself, once again, that it wasn't real. Almost as if he could read his mind, Itachi's voice sounded in the back of his head, "Watch and suffer, Naruto, as your friends fall before your eyes." He cursed him to hell watching as Hinata and the rest of Team 8 were wiped out by one of the Akatsuki members. Naruto was forced to watch as a plant-like ninja started to consume their bodies.

Naruto couldn't take it anymore, even though he knew it was only a genjutsu, everything was so real. He could physically feel his heart being torn as he watched the rest of his friends fall at the hands of the Akatsuki. By this time the only people he loved that were still alive were Kakashi, Tsunade, Iruka, Jiraiya and Sakura; and of course Sasuke, but he didn't know what role he was going to play in all of this. Though he knew it wouldn't be long now until he had to witness them too being killed in this hell of a jutsu. The fear he was anticipating, regarding the deaths of some of his closest companions made him lose it. His constant chants of 'this isn't real' were fading away and his mind was being taken over slowly, but surely by the madness.

Naruto struggled, his fox's chakra suppressed and his body useless. His clothes were heavy with sweat, his skin crawling and eyes slightly popping out of his head as he was dragged to another location. Surrounding the Hokage's mansion was a small army of what looked like sound ninjas, accompanied by the six Peins (or what looked like just a bunch of Akatsuki members to Naruto). Facing them, along with several Konoha ninjas, some familiar and some not, were Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kakashi and Iruka. Naruto knew now that he was going to have to face these people being brutally killed right in front of him. And so he did, one after another fell to the ground and he no longer knew what the emotions going through him were called. So detached from everything; Naruto didn't even notice his body being transported to the top of the mountain that the previous Hokage's faces were carved upon.

Suddenly Naruto knew what was going to happen, there were only two people left that had yet to be killed and those two were perhaps the most important of them all. Naruto started screaming in his head, yelling beyond furious and frightened at Itachi, pleading him to stop. Itachi only laughed and said, "Oh no Naruto, this next event is very important, I'm afraid I can't let you miss it."

Naruto gasped and shook violently; there on top of the Hokage Mountain were Sakura and Sasuke, fighting each other. Sasuke was, thankfully himself and not taken over by Orochimaru but was, if possible, more terrifying than anything Naruto had ever seen. He was grinning maliciously and his eyes were that of total hatred, his vengeance had consumed him and Naruto couldn't see his former best friend anywhere in that face of his. Sakura was on her knees by the edge of the cliff, staring up at him blankly, her face covered in blood, tears, and dirt. Sasuke, having charged his chidori, ran down the tree he was perched upon and came at Sakura laughing madly. Naruto yelled and yelled but Sasuke kept on going.

Even though he was far away, Naruto heard every word he said to Sakura, "It's a pity you wouldn't fight me seriously Sakura, don't tell me you still love me. Well if that's the case then you're even more desperate and useless than I thought."

Sakura's head hung low, tears dripping into her lap, Naruto was broken seeing her like that and tried to look away as Sasuke struck her directly in the chest, but Itachi made sure to hold his head up.

They stood there on the edge of the cliff, Sasuke with his hand in her heart and her eyes looking up at him. He leaned close and whispered to her but Naruto could still hear what he said, "You were right Sakura, all you were and are is dead weight; Naruto and I never needed you. You're such a pathetic excuse for a ninja." And with that he took his hand out of her body and let her fall backwards of the cliff and into the flames below. Naruto was silent as everything went back to normal and he was thrust back into the real world.

He collapsed on the spot and lay there motionless as Itachi stood over him. "Did you like that little show Naruto, well there's still more to come."

All that happened then was a series of blows to his body, he remembered his bones crunching and making noises then he remembered being cut on the side, blood pouring out of his wound, but he didn't care, he was happy if Itachi killed him. He was sure he would too, if he hadn't of disappeared so suddenly. Naruto remembered the face he made, it was shock; but of course he got rid of that soon and smirked, his lips moving but Naruto was too weak to hear the words that came out. His last vision was of Itachi looking down at him and disappearing. Then he could have sworn someone picked him up and set him down near the gate. After that he couldn't remember anything; he figured that was when he was in a coma.

Having basically experienced the whole thing over again, Naruto couldn't stand laying down in his hospital bed so he unhooked the iv's in his forearm and paced around, too worked up to concentrate on anything but still having the need to move.

Meanwhile, Sakura kept running towards Lady Tsunade's office, actually running into a few villagers on her way. They shouted at her but she didn't care, Naruto worried her and the sooner she got Tsunade at the hospital, the better.

"Lady Hokage!" shouted Sakura as she burst through the doors to Tsunade's office. Luckily, no one was in there except the Hokage herself. Tsunade stood up and urgently asked what was wrong.

"Naruto woke up, but he's acting really strange!"

"…" Tsunade just stared at her, eyebrow arched.

Sakura blushed and slapped a hand over her mouth as she realized how ridiculous she sounded. Tsunade raised her eyebrows and sat down with an exasperated sigh.

"Next time when you come bursting through the doors like that, make sure it's an emergency," Tsunade said, closing her eyes, "you almost gave me a heart attack." Sakura nodded and looked at the ground, nervously shuffling her feet. Tsunade rolled her eyes, "now what were you saying about Naruto?"

Sakura stood up straight and looked Tsunade in the eyes, "Naruto woke up and was acting normally, or as normal as Naruto can be; but then he just sat there quietly, I think he was probably remembering what happened to him but…my lady…his eyes, they frightened me; they were full of fear and sadness." She looked at Tsunade trying to convey just how important she thought this matter was. They both knew Naruto always had that trace of sadness in his eyes, he was the Nine-Tails after all; but this…this was abnormal.

Tsunade looked at her carefully and then shook her head, "Sakura, Naruto has obviously just experienced something dreadful, seeing that he was almost dead when you guys got here." Sakura flinched at her words; Naruto's bloody body was still so clear in her head. "Anyways, you can't expect him to jump around and smile like he usually is right when he wakes up from a coma."

Sakura nodded slowly and slouched. She knew it was foolish to get so worried about these little things, but she couldn't help it. After all, Naruto was almost dead when she found him lying at her doorstep in a puddle of his own blood. Sakura flinched again; she needed to stop thinking about that.

"However, I will come take a look at Naruto, we still need to figure out what happened," Tsunade said getting up from her desk and walking towards the door. Sakura looked out the window at the hospital and sighed, hopefully he can remember.

"Hey, are you coming or not?" Tsunade said holding the door open for her. Sakura blinked twice, turned around, and strode out the door muttering a 'thank you' as she passed. The entire way to the hospital was silent between the teacher and student, but inside their minds was the same question being asked, _'Naruto, what happened to you?'_

**Okay! That's the end of this chapter; again I'm really really sorry this is so late! But I guess it doesn't matter now anyways…the next chapter will be out much sooner, I promise. Until then, don't be afraid to review this story :) I'd gladly appreciate it. Thanks for reading! -Lauren**


	4. This is Ridiculous

**Hello! Well, I think I did a good job getting this out rather quickly compared to my last update, although it is shorter than the other ones. Sorry about that! It was just a good place to end the chapter, and I know it wasn't really that exciting butttt oh well. So, I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to review! Please? (:**

Chapter 4: This is ridiculous

**In the Konoha Hospital:**

Naruto was pacing back and forth, trying to shake of the sense of dread that entered his body since reliving his experience with Itachi Uchiha. Fear was one thing he wasn't accustomed to feeling, sure there were things he feared in this world; his friends being in danger, or even worse, dying and Ichiraku Ramen suddenly going out of business, but feeling fear for an enemy wasn't one of them. He suddenly hated himself, why did he feel like this, Itachi was his enemy, he was the one that made Sasuke what he is today, and he shouldn't fear him he should want to rip him to shreds.

He just needed to stop thinking about it, it wasn't Itachi that he was afraid of, it was his genjutsus. He never wanted to experience something like that again, but in order to capture and defeat Itachi; he needed to get rid of that fear or else it'll hold him back. He just needed to train, and then train some more so he'd be strong enough the next time he faced him. He didn't exactly know how he could avoid being caught in his genjutsu but maybe he'd ask Kakashi-sensei about that later. _First things first, I need to get out of this hospital._

Completely forgetting that people were going to come and check on him, Naruto started to gather his belongings and was just about to unlock the window when a large bang echoed throughout his room and an angry voice shouted, "Naruto Uzumaki, just where do you think you're going!" This of course made him jump about a foot in the air and topple over backwards, just missing crashing into one of the many large machines that surrounded his hospital bed. After turning around and simultaneously rubbing the back of his head, Naruto received another blow to the head, courtesy of a certain blonde-haired Hokage.

"Owww Granny-Tsunade, why'd you have to go and hit me? I'm still a patient you know!" Naruto mumbled, hauling himself from the ground for the second time in less than a minute. He looked up to see her face filled with rage and noticed, as he looked behind her, that Sakura was standing in the doorway, head down. Frankly, he was surprised she didn't get to him first, knowing full well that she was just as violent as the women in front of him.

"Exactly, you are still a patient and being a patient, you aren't allowed to leave this hospital until you're discharged!" yelled the Hokage, brandishing her fist in a rather un-ladylike fashion. Naruto sighed and was just about to retort when he caught the look on Sakura's face. He immediately felt the knot of guilt form in his stomach and decided it'd be best to shut up now. Glancing back at Tsunade, Naruto sighed, chuckled a little bit and sat down on the edge of his bed.

"I guess I shouldn't have tried sneaking out, huh?" He said, smiling a little and scratching the side of his face.

Tsunade let out a giant sigh and plopped down in the chair next to his bed. Sakura also made her way over and sat down on the other edge of Naruto's bed, facing the other way. Naruto knew she was upset and probably wanted to know why he would leave before giving any sort of explanation, it's just…he didn't want her to hear about it and he also didn't want her to find out how afraid he was now. Right now he would rather take a punch in the stomach than have to see her back hunched over the way it was.

He turned around to face Tsunade and noticed she was staring at Sakura too. She looked at Naruto and gave him an 'I know you know this is your fault' sort of look and he just smiled sarcastically and shrugged back basically meaning; I know. Then she stared at him for a good half a minute, biting on her thumbnail and finally asked the question he knew would eventually come out.

"So Naruto…mind telling us what happened or are you just going to try jumping through the window again?"

He just looked at her, jerked his head backward, knowing that Sakura couldn't see this movement, and stared intently at Tsunade, hoping that she got the message he was trying to get across. Whatever he implied she seemed to have understood, because she inclined her head minutely before addressing Sakura.

"Sakura, why don't you go help Shizune in room 202 with the team that just got in?" Tsunade said, still staring patiently at Naruto.

"What! No way, I have the right to know what happened to Naruto, he's my teammate after all!" Sakura said her mood taking a 180 turn and raising her voice to Tsunade. She was no longer on the bed and was staring at the back of Naruto's head; she couldn't believe he wouldn't tell her what happened!

"I am the Hokage and you will do what I say, Sakura, and I say go help Shizune!" Tsunade said, standing up and towering over Sakura. Sakura stayed where she was at for a second then looked at Naruto who glanced in her direction and turned back around, staring at the patterned tiles on the floor. Sakura's mouth dropped open for two seconds, and then she huffed, walked towards the door, opened it and slammed it shut. Tsunade waited for Sakura's footsteps to fade away before she again asked Naruto what happened.

He started to explain what had happened between him and Itachi, Tsunade's face contorting in anger all throughout it. But un-knowing to them, Sakura still stood outside the door, ear pressed tight against it listening to every word they said. Her fists shook with rage and her lips were drawn tight.

"Itachi…"

Before either of them walked out of the door and noticed her crouched beside it, Sakura got up and, as silently as possible, made her way to the front of the hospital, through the doors and back to her house. The walk back did nothing to calm her anger and she ended up punching a hole through a tree on the way just to let out some frustration. Oh how she wished she could do that to Itachi right now. _Just another thing to add to the list of what he's done to hurt my friends_, thought Sakura.

Suddenly, all of the fight went out of her and her body seemed twice its normal weight, finally released from the tension that's been building up ever since she found Naruto that night. Sighing, she made her way up to her bedroom, said a quick hello to her mom in the kitchen, obviously not in the mood to talk to anyone and plopped down on her bed. Even though it was almost midday Sakura felt like sleeping so she changed her clothes, opened the window and climbed into her bed. It only took her a minute or two to get relaxed and let the quiet hustle and bustle from the streets below slowly whisk her off to a dreamless sleep.

**Sooo, that's it everyone. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter out soon, and if you would be so kind I'd really like a review or two, just to know how I'm doing. Thanks a bunch (: Oh and I realized I never put any sort of disclaimer for this, sooo I do not own the story of Naruto nor do I own any of its characters, we can thank Kishimoto-san for coming up with all of that (:**


	5. A Rude Awakening

Chapter 5: A Rude Awakening 

Sakura woke up, completely refreshed and a little sore, having slept through the rest of the day and night. She glanced at the clock beside her bed and yawned, it was barely past five a.m. After making her bed and getting ready for the day, she made her way downstairs, careful not to wake her still resting parents. Grabbing an apple on the way out Sakura made her way over to the apartment complexes on the other side of town. Naruto was legally discharged from the hospital yesterday, Tsunade having found nothing wrong with him, and even though she didn't really want to start her morning out like this; she needed to have a talk with him. 

There was no way she was just going to let this slide, he arrives almost dead at her doorstep, she helps nurse him back to health and not to mention that she's his teammate and that they've been friends (well really more than that, they were comrades on the same team, that was more than friendship) for years now; and he goes and decides to not tell her how he got in that mess. True, she did eavesdrop on their conversation and found out anyways but…well she wants to hear the reason why he didn't tell her and in order for him to do that, she's going to have to admit to listening in on their conversation yesterday. 

She paused and threw her apple away in a trash bin on the side of the street, suddenly hesitant about going to talk to him. There was a small part of her that felt guilty about staying behind to listen but she was sure that if their roles were reversed, Naruto would've done the same thing. But that wouldn't have happened because Sakura would have just told him in the first place! _'Are you sure about that?' said a little voice in the back of her head, 'would you have told him even if it was embarrassing?'_ Sakura felt that little twang of guilt in her stomach again but beat off the voice. _Why would Naruto be embarrassed about getting attacked? I mean, sure he lost so he's bummed out about it, big deal, he's lost before. This is different! It was too important _not_ to tell me._ Anger becoming the dominant emotion once again, she stormed off, getting closer to the unsuspecting blonde's apartment. 

Naruto came back home to his one room apartment after his talk with Tsunade yesterday completely and utterly exhausted; collapsing on his bed just seconds after getting in through the door. He was ashamed of himself, so ashamed in fact that it was comparable to what he felt like after coming back unsuccessful from Sasuke's rescue mission…ok, well no it wasn't even close to how he felt then, that was nearly unbearable; this he could deal with. He just needed to avoid Sakura until he came to terms with Itachi's attack. His heart ached with the thought and he turned over on his side coming face to face with the picture of early Team 7 on his nightstand. He looked sadly at the picture, _what was wrong with him?  
><em>

Suddenly full of determination, Naruto reached over and set his alarm clock. He was going to make sure to wake up early and get some training in so he could get stronger and put this event behind him. Setting his alarm clock back on the nightstand, he pulled back his covers and settled in; in order to train his hardest he definitely needed to get some sleep. He found the need to sleep odd since he was actually in a coma for days but that time his body needed it; right now his mind was so exhausted that sleep was completely welcome. And so, knowing that tomorrow was the start of a new day, Naruto drifted off to sleep. 

She was here, three stories up and two doors to the left; somewhere beyond this wall lay a sleeping and unsuspecting Naruto. Sakura smiled mischievously to herself; if she wanted to she could have some fun with this and maybe get some small revenge in return. Quietly she opened the door she knew was unlocked and let herself in, being extra careful not to make any unnecessary noise. This is why he shouldn't leave his door unlocked; really he shouldn't leave it unlocked anyways because of enemy ninja attacks, for example, the Akatsuki, but if you're dealing with a highly skilled ninja who wants to kill and or capture you, a locked door isn't going to do you much good. 

So, tip-toeing across the short hallway to his room, Sakura walked in until she was right beside his bed. She glanced at the alarm clock and saw that it read 5:45 a.m., there was no way he'd be getting up anytime soon so she started working on her plan. She wondered what she should do, paint on his face or maybe put glue on the back of his headband? No no no, that was all too juvenile, Sakura couldn't stand it if he thought she had been reduced to pulling childish pranks on him. What would really bother him? She knew he always had a hard time getting up in the morning, usually cranky too if he hadn't ate yet. Wait…food! Yes, that's it; she'd hide his stash of instant ramen! 

Grinning at her genius, Sakura quietly made her way back to his kitchen and began to slowly move his ramen from the cupboards to under his couch cushions. Okay, maybe not the most creative place to hide them but this boy had barely any furniture in his apartment and it's not like she could hide it anywhere outside. So, having finished the daunting task of transferring all fifty cups of instant ramen to the couch (really she couldn't understand how he ate so much ramen and was still able to stay alive, any other person and they'd either be fat or dead by now) she made her way back to his bedroom. 

Staring at the blonde sleeping peacefully in his twin-size bed, Sakura let a small smile break through her anger. When he was sleeping, he looked so peaceful and relaxed; it was like he was a different person, free from all of the stress in his life. Sakura knew he'd hate her if she ever said it out loud but, sometimes she felt bad for him. His life is great compared to what it used to be but even though he's found so much to fight for he has to constantly watch his back. Well, that's not exactly true; Jiraiya and Kakashi-sensei do a lot of that, along with Yamato sensei now. Sakura smiled again, she forgot about Sai, for some reason he's been really active about his learning human emotions mission lately and is, unfortunately, getting on Naruto's nerves a lot. He's not quite there yet, in understanding social situations that is, but Sakura could tell that he cares about Naruto and, even though he won't admit it yet, Naruto has accepted him as part of the team. 

Naruto should really step back and let his friends handle things once in awhile though, he carries so much weight on his shoulders, and it'd be good for people to not rely on him so much. _Including me_, thought Sakura. He shot another look at the alarm clock, 5:59 a.m. She should really get going now, there were things she wanted to get done before her shift at the hospital starts. She looked down at Naruto again, suddenly getting an idea. Before she leaves she should wake him up, getting up early is something he should learn, always showing up to places late or rushing so much he'd have his pants on backwards. How should she wake him up? 

Right after she thought those words, a shrill noise pierced the silence and made her jump a mile high, letting out a yell in the process. It took a couple seconds to realize it was his alarm clock and as she came to this answer, Naruto started getting up. Without thinking twice about it Sakura sucker-punched him in the face, instantly knocking him out, his half sitting figure slumping over to the side. 

Sakura was breathing hard, her face slowly getting red, aware of the fact that she just knocked him out because she panicked. She was _not_ expecting his alarm clock to go off so early. She covered her face in embarrassment; she knocked him out because she hadn't thought of an idea to wake him up yet. The alarm clock was still going off; almost mocking her it seemed like. Grumbling, she took one of Naruto's pillows and threw it full force at the stupid thing, knocking it off the table and successfully ending the annoying noise it produced. 

Sitting down on his bed, Sakura adjusted Naruto's torso so that it wasn't leaning so exaggerated to the right and sighed; she had to stay until he woke up, he'd be so confused. She looked at his face and realized his cheek was starting to swell. Guilty, she charged her chakra and laid her hand on his cheek, healing it so that it would be back to normal when he woke up. Yea, this was _not_ the way she wanted to start her morning, so much for the errands she wanted to get done. Looking at Naruto's face and chuckling a little about how strange this morning was turning out, Sakura didn't really mind not getting those errands done anymore… 

_Owww…why does my head hurt so much? _Naruto's eyes slowly opened and noticed that not only did his head hurt but he was sitting up in his bed. Sometimes his sleeping positions are a little odd but this was just ridiculous, how'd he fall asleep this way? Waking up confused for the second time in two days, Naruto also noticed that he was not alone in his bed. His eyes snapped to the mass of pink hair resting next to his side. 

_S-Sakura…is in my b-bed? _Naruto's eyes felt like they'd fall out soon if he didn't get a grip on himself. There had to be an explanation for this, what happened before he woke up? He vaguely remembers his alarm clock going off but after that it was completely blank. Anxious for no reason in particular, Naruto poked Sakura in the side of the head; she didn't wake up. "_Sakura_, wake up," Naruto said quietly shaking her shoulder. His response was a muffled "Hmmm?" 

Frustrated, Naruto shook her more forcefully and practically yelled her name trying to get her to wake up. It worked; Sakura snapped up and almost fell off of the bed if it weren't for Naruto quickly grabbing her arm and yanking her back in place. It took about a millisecond for Sakura to realize she fell asleep while waiting for Naruto to wake up and almost fell off again in her panic. Turning around she took hold of Naruto's shoulders and was shaking him asking him what time it was. 

"Calm down Sakura, just let me check my clock!" Naruto then turned towards his nightstand going to check the time when he suddenly realized it wasn't there anymore. Leaning over some more he saw it and his pillow lying on the ground. 

"What happened to my alarm clock?" 

So, her face completely red and stuttering a little, Sakura explained what happened and almost punched Naruto again for cracking up. Still laughing, Naruto got up and started straightening his room, leaving Sakura on his bed to go get ready. 

Sakura crossed her arm and 'humphed' as he walked away, after he started laughing at her she conveniently forgot to tell him that she hid his ramen. Sure enough about five minutes later, a strangled yell came from the kitchen and Sakura snickered, wondering how long it would take him to find his precious ramen. Surprisingly, it was only a couple minutes later before she heard a triumphant 'yea' and she heard the sound of boiling water being poured into the cup. Coming back into the room with his breakfast, Naruto sat across from her and gave her a dirty look. She just smiled sweetly back, laughing as his noodles came up to smack him in the nose. 

It was a little while before she remembered why she came here. Looking over at Naruto slurping down the rest of his breakfast, she found it hard to still be angry at him. Even though she couldn't pull out the emotions she was feeling before, Sakura knew she still had to talk to him about everything. After Naruto put down his ramen and wiped his face clean, she turned towards him, hitching a serious face on. Naruto raised one of his eyebrows in a questioning matter, knowing she wanted to say something. Sakura breathed in and looked him in the eyes. 

"Naruto…I know what happened between you and Itachi." 

**Yay :D Chapter five is out! I hope you liked it even though it wasn't that eventful. Just thought I'd add a little bit of fluff and comic relief. So, after the next chapter or so it should pick up a little bit and if my characters are like way OOC or something, tell me so I can correct it. And just to remind you, the review button is just below…just saying :) Thanks! Oh, and probably the most important thing to say is thank you so much for the people who reviewed. It always makes me super happy to open my email and see the notifications. **


	6. Confession

Chapter 6: Confession

Naruto froze. Did he just hear what he thought he heard? He looked at Sakura but quickly looked away again. The accusing stare she was giving him brought his guilt back ten-fold. He knew she was hurt and angry, he knew she would be at the hospital, but if she already knew what happened then everything he did to avoid telling her was wasted. 

He was still feeling guilty about not telling her in the first place but he felt something new now; shame and anger. He was angry that she eavesdropped, although in some part of his mind he already knew that was something she'd do, but it didn't make it any better. She should have realized he would have a reason for purposely sending her away, he was sure there were some things she wouldn't want him to know too. 

And he was ashamed because now Sakura knew everything that happened between him and Itachi. Or at least most of it, he thought. He didn't tell Tsunade more than she needed to know. He involuntarily shivered; no one had to know how everyone died or what Sasuke said to Sakura right before he murdered her…Naruto mentally slapped himself. He really needed to stop thinking about that. 

But it wasn't the fact that Itachi defeated him that made him so ashamed, it's his fear of experiencing that again. Itachi knows his weaknesses so he'll use it against him again and Naruto didn't think he could handle something so horrific a second time. Now every time he thought of Itachi he remembers the faces of his friends dying around him. 

Naruto didn't want Sakura to know how weak he was…_is_…and he didn't want to admit that he was afraid of the next time they'd meet. Well, more than afraid really, terrified would be a better word. He looked at Sakura once more, patiently waiting for him to answer. Cerulean met teal and his face relaxed. He had a reason for not telling her, I mean who wants to tell the person you love how weak you are? 

Sakura sat, legs crossed, as Naruto looked away and back again. She knew he was surprised about this but he really should have expected it. No way was she just going to sit back and _not_ find out what happened to him; she was his teammate after all! She stared at him, wondering what was going through his head at that moment. He looked up at her and maintained eye contact this time, his face relaxing into a different expression. Sakura got a jolt in the pit of her stomach as he stared at her, his expression suddenly intense. Somehow the look seemed a bit familiar… 

Naruto opened his mouth to say something that would justify his actions but nothing ended up coming out. He closed it and tried again- but still nothing. Sakura quirked an eyebrow, signaling that she was still waiting. Naruto sighed and crossed his arms, his eyes darting back and forth from her face to the floor. 

"Sorry." 

Sakura blinked. 

"Sorry?" Sakura said, suddenly leaning forward so that she was in his face, "That's all you have to say?" 

Naruto just leaned back, eyes wide with surprise. 

Sakura lost it. All of the emotions she was feeling for days just started pouring out. She bombarded him with questions. 

"Why didn't you trust me?" "Do you know how much shit you put me through?" "Did you even have the slightest idea how worried I was?" 

Accusations kept sliding off her tongue, making Naruto shrink away until he was on the very edge of his bed. Each question was like a stab through his heart, he hated seeing her this way. He understood everything that she was saying but he had to hang on to his resolve. He had a reason. _He had a reason!  
><em>

His brain shut down. Wait…he had a reason? Looking at Sakura now, close to tears, he realized something important; his reason was completely selfish. His pride got in the way of his common sense, Sakura wouldn't have cared that he was scared; she's accepted so many worse things about him. Like the nine-tailed fox for example, even when she found out she never stopped caring about him. He was afraid that if he told her how weak he was, she would resent him for it. He knew that was completely illogical, he just didn't want to make himself look bad. I guess love makes you do illogical things sometimes. 

Naruto reached out and held fast to Sakura's hand. Sakura stopped ranting and stared at their hands, making her way up to his face. 

"I'm sorry," Naruto said with more conviction that she thought was possible. "I had a reason for not telling you but I've just realized it doesn't even matter anymore. I was stupid…sorry." 

Sakura's breath hitched. Naruto sounded so sincere…so _mature_ and she was suddenly hyperaware of their hands still in contact with each other. She hastily drew her hands away and started patting the bed to distract her mind. Then she wondered what this reason he had was. 

"Will you tell me the reason?" 

Naruto paused to think for a moment, "Well, if you really want to know…" 

"Well, I _was_ wondering why you didn't trust me enough to tell me…," Sakura trailed off. She wasn't angry anymore she just wanted to know the truth. 

Naruto's face became defiant as he nearly shouted at Sakura, "It's not that I didn't trust you! I mean…you're one of the people I trust the most." 

Sakura was pleased, albeit a little taken aback at the urgency in his voice, but pleased nonetheless. 

Naruto sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. Looking at the ceiling so he didn't have to look at her face, Naruto started explaining his reasoning. 

"I didn't want you to hear what happened because…well because I'm ashamed of how I was affected by everything." 

Sakura tilted her head to the side in confusion, "You mean you're embarrassed about what happened? About…being put in the hospital?" 

Naruto shook his head, "No, I've lost before, and even though that makes me angry too, it's…more complicated than that. I'm so…afraid of him now…afraid of the Tsukuyomi. 

A couple heartbeats passed in silence and then a couple more. All he could hear now was his own slow breathing that was gradually getting faster as his anxiety took over. It took so much for him to admit it but he still didn't have the courage to look her in the eyes. The silence stretched on and when he couldn't take it anymore he quickly took a peek at Sakura. She was still staring at him, waiting for him to look her way, her face slightly bemused. 

"So…you're scared? That's it? Well geez Naruto, everyone is afraid of something." 

Naruto stared at her. He suddenly felt like lying down as all of the tension left his body and a gift known as relief flooded in. Of course she made it sound so simple. His fears of acceptance flew out of the window while confidence settled in. Only Sakura could make this easier for him. Naruto looked over at Sakura, stifling a giggle behind her palm. Naruto rolled his eyes and fought hard at the blush that threatened to give away his embarrassment. 

"Well Sakura, a man's pride is a very important thing. Of course you don't understand what I'm talking about," Naruto said, now chuckling along with her. 

Sakura just laughed and punched him lightly on the shoulder, "Oh whatever." 

So there they sat, Naruto still chuckling lightly, misunderstandings cleared and anger gone. Each was replaced with a feeling that you can only get after making up with a friend. They made eye contact and blushed a little, both feeling awkward at how emotional they both were this morning. To ease the awkwardness, Naruto delved into a funny story about how one of the fishermen on his mission got chased up a tree by a bear. 

Sakura listened to his story and laughed at all of the appropriate times but part of her couldn't help but be distracted. Today was one of the rare times Naruto was actually serious and acted his age rather than the hyperactive kid he used to be. But the phrase a 'man's pride' struck her a little more than it should have. Looking over at Naruto enthusiastically making hand gestures, her eyes just happened to trail down to this chest, half exposed from his shirt and realized that not only was he taller but his shoulders had widened too. _I bet if I stood behind him now I'd be completely hidden from view…  
><em>

Sakura almost slapped herself. What was she thinking! She nodded at something Naruto said, realized that he was done with the story and got up from the bed, excusing herself. She mumbled something about 'errands' and walked to the door, stumbling slightly on the way out. Walking down the street she thought about Naruto being a man and snorted. _Naruto isn't a man…he's way too immature._ And with that last thought she made her way home. 

Naruto watched as Sakura left, tripping on his carpet before making her way to the front door. Odd, she seemed a little distracted, Naruto thought. _Oh well, it's probably nothing important. _He got up off his bed and continued to go about his morning routine, getting ready for a day of training. Pulling his clothes on he walked out the door and headed over to the memorial by the training grounds. 

"Time to ask Kakashi-sensei about the sharingan!"

**Sorry sorry! It's taken so long to update, ne? I've started college now so I am quite busy, not to mention I've started coaching middle school cross country too, so…yea I'll be tired lol. I wouldn't expect another update for a couple of weeks but I'll try to get the next one out sooner rather than later. Naruto goes on an adventure this time and let's just say Kakashi isn't the only one he'll be training with ;) Ah, I shouldn't try to make it mysterious, I'm sure some of you already have a guess to who it is. Well! Thanks for reading and I know this chapter wasn't much, I actually had a bit of trouble writing it. Don't forget to review, if you'd like, and thank you to those who have. Byeeee :D**


	7. A Youthful Life

Chapter 7: A Youthful Life 

Naruto walked to the training grounds by the memorial dedicated to those that were killed while on duty. He stopped in front of the giant stone and bowed his head, paying his respects. He remembered the day he carelessly said he wanted his name engraved on that stone. It was during Team Seven's bell test with Kakashi; Naruto was tied up to the log and Kakashi had just announced that they should all quit being shinobi. He then told them that everyone that had their name carved on that stone was recognized by the village. Naruto, being the boy that he is, immediately wanted his name on that stone because of the recognition it would give him. How foolish that he didn't know what the memorial stood for then. Naruto stared down at the hundreds of shinobi that died for this village and hoped that he wouldn't see any of his friends' names on there any time soon… 

"Naruto, how rare to see you here…especially before noon." 

Naruto turned around and saw Kakashi-sensei leaning on one of the training logs reading one of his many adult books. 

"Kakashi-sensei! I thought I'd find you here, I really need to talk to you about something!" 

Kakashi set his book back in his pocket and walked over to Naruto taking a moment to silently give his respects to Obito. 

"You need to talk to me or you need help with training?" 

"Well…both I guess. I really want you to tell me about the sharingan and what I can do to counter-attack it." 

Kakashi turned towards the memorial, hands in his pockets, staying silent for so long that Naruto was about to interrupt his reverie until Kakashi finally turned towards him. 

"This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that run-in you just had with Itachi, now would it?" 

Naruto visibly twitched. Of course Kakashi-sensei would know about it, he was sure all of his friends knew about it. You can't really hush up almost a week of coma…Naruto hesitantly smiled at Kakashi, shrugging as if it wasn't a big deal. 

"So you heard about that did you? Ahahaha…" 

Kakashi looked at Naruto with his only visible eye and sighed. Even though Naruto was annoying as hell sometimes, he had to admit that he really cared for the kid. Kakashi mentally corrected himself; Naruto wasn't the kid that ran around jingling his headband yelling 'Hokage! Hokage!' anymore, he had to face it; Naruto was growing up. In fact he was growing up so much that it kind of scared him. _So…the new generation is already catching up to us.  
><em>

"Uh…Kakashi-sensei?" 

Kakashi blinked. He'd been staring silently at Naruto for awhile now. 

"Ah, sorry sorry, I was deep in thought for a moment there." Naruto huffed, he was probably just thinking about some part of his pervy book. 

"Well Naruto, I'm not going to lecture you about your near-death experience. I mean yes it was irresponsible and dangerous to be off-guard like that and pretty stupid of you to be rendered motionless by that genjutsu but I guess that's in the past and now you want to learn to defend yourself if that should ever happen a second time, right?" 

Naruto kicked at the ground and muttered, "You didn't have to say it like that." 

Kakashi smiled under his mask. He wasn't really disappointed in him or anything, there's not much you can do once you're caught in the tsukuyomi. Kakashi definitely knew that, having once been on the receiving end of it. 

"Alright, so you want to know about the sharingan right?" Naruto nodded, glad that Kakashi-sensei as agreeing to help him. 

"Well, you already know that the sharingan is a doujutsu, or a visual jutsu like the byakugan. It can read the enemies movements whether that person is performing a ninjutsu, taijutsu or genjutsu and copy them. When Itachi used the tsukuyomi on you he activated his mangekyou sharingan by gaining eye contact with you. When you are in his genjutsu you are at his mercy, he controls time and space. Even though you felt like you were in that genjutsu for a long time it was probably only a second in reality. Once you make eye contact with him and he activates his mangekyou sharingan you are trapped and completely in his control. There isn't a way to get out of the jutsu but there is a way to prevent it from happening. Do you see where this is going?" 

"Uhhhhhh" 

Kakashi sighed once again. 

"Come on Naruto, if you can't look into his eyes then you have to…?" Kakashi asked, prompting him. 

"How am I supposed to defeat him if I can't look at his face, It's not like I can just magically read his movements without looking at him!" 

"But you can read his movements without looking at his eyes, I'm not telling you to go in blind, just to avoid his face." 

"What you mean like look at his hands or feet or something?" 

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying." 

… 

"B-but that's crazy!" Naruto exclaimed, "Who can do that!" 

Suddenly a flash of green streaked past in his peripheral vision and Naruto, startled by the sudden movement, turned to look and saw the one and only Number 1 Taijutsu Specialist in the Hidden Leaf; Might Guy. 

"For once I'm actually glad to see you Guy," Kakashi said. _Although glad might be an exaggeration.  
><em>

"Kakashi, my rival! I will overlook that unenthusiastic greeting for now because I just so happened to overhear your entire conversation with Naruto." Guy said, striding over in his slightly flamboyant way. 

"Isn't it rude to eavesdrop?" Naruto said, slightly wary of the green-clad jounin. 

"Now now Naruto, It's actually a good thing he heard everything now I don't have to explain everything over again. Guy here is actually one of the people who can read a person's movements by just looking at their feet." 

"Eh! He can do that!" Naruto said, turning to Guy to see if this was true. 

Guy struck a pose and gave him the thumbs up, the sun reflecting off of his pearly teeth and temporarily blinding Naruto. 

"I sure can, and by the time you get done training with me you'll be able to fight off Itachi no problem…or at least stall him!" Guy said. 

"Uh, well it'll help you escape him, that's the main thing we're trying to do here. No matter how strong you might have gotten in the last couple of years you're still not skilled enough to go against Itachi one-on-one Naruto…" Kakashi said noticing Naruto's eyes light up at the sound of 'fighting off Itachi with no problem'. 

Naruto's hope deflated just as fast as it came and his shoulders slumped downwards in a dejected manner. 

"Yea, I guess that's true…I was just thinking if I was able to defeat Itachi then Sasuke wouldn't have his revenge anymore and he'd come back to the village." 

"I'm not sure if it would happen like that Naruto, Sasuke's situation is pretty complicated. After all he'd have to get past Orochimaru first if you were to somehow defeat Itachi." 

"Well we'd just go and beat up Orochimaru too then!" Naruto said, pumping his fist in the air. 

"Uh, sure…well in any case, you can go off with Guy and train with him now. Oh and Tsunade says you can't go on any missions for a couple of days because you need your rest, and I'm not telling you to stop training," Kakashi said noticing that Naruto was about to protest, "because I know you're going to anyways, just no missions." 

Naruto nodded however reluctantly to signal that he understood. Kakashi took out his book and started to walk away. 

"And Naruto?" 

"Yes Kakashi-sensei?" 

"…don't over-do it." 

Naruto beamed and shouted out 'I'll try!' as Kakashi walked away to do god knows what with the rest of his day. 

Guy, having been extremely patient as Kakashi and Naruto finished their conversation placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder and shouted to the sky, "Come Naruto! Let us exhaust the power of youth through rigorous training and become stronger together!" 

Naruto let him lead him away reluctantly, not looking forward to this 'rigorous training' he was talking about. 

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Turns out this rigorous training was indeed something extremely hard that only Guy and maybe Rock Lee could think of. They started off with 50 laps around the village 'Just to get us warmed up' he had said and then was followed by a series of strange and uncomfortable stretches and multiple sets of push-ups, crunches and loads of other exercises. The entire time Naruto was wondering what in the world all of this had to do with watching someone's feet but knew better than to complain and set him off on a spiel about how he was young and should be thankful that his youthful power let him experience the joys of activity without dying from the effort or something like that. 

So, after their 'warm-up' Guy finally began to teach him a few pointers on reading movements and they ended up practicing with each other until late in the evening. It was only when Naruto's stomach rumbled loudly for the umpteenth time that Guy said that it was enough and they sat down, breathing heavily from their strenuous training. 

"Good job Naruto, I'm very pleased to see how much you have improved! You almost have as much energy as Lee! Ah how I envy your youth!" 

Naruto chuckled, "Naw, Ol' Bushy Brows has way more energy than me; I could barely keep up with you today." 

They waited in silence as their heart rates returned to normal. Naruto's stomach growled in protest once more and he got up, ready to get some ramen at Ichiraku when Guy stopped him. 

"Just a minute Naruto, I have one last thing that I want to talk to you about." 

Naruto looked down expectantly, waiting patiently for Guy to speak. 

"Now, what I taught you today will only work to stall or escape from Itachi if he is using his mangekyou sharingan. I've seen what that man can do; Kakashi was put in the hospital for a week because of it, and you know as well as I do that that rarely happens. If you are alone with Itachi again and he manages to trap you in his genjutsu regardless of this training then there is one more thing you can do."

"Really! What is it?" 

"Once a sharingan user is finished with his technique, especially concerning the tsukuyomi, that person has used a lot of his chakra and is weakened. If you can somehow regain your strength after you come out of that jutsu that would be the best time to attack him, when he is weak and has little stamina left." 

Naruto thought back to the time he was attacked after he came out of Itachi's genjutsu. He could barely speak let alone move. But maybe if he used the foxes chakra...Naruto smiled and thanked Guy for the training and advice and made his way to his favorite ramen stand completely starved. 

It was then to his surprise that right outside of the training grounds he ran into Sakura. 

"Sakura? What are you doing here?" 

Sakura smiled and walked over to where he was, not at all surprised to see him. 

"I've been out here for awhile; I saw you and Guy training together so I stayed. Lady Tsunade sent me out to gather some medicinal herbs…" Sakura trailed off. She could tell Naruto didn't believe her. 

_That's a lie_, Naruto thought, _Granny definitely sent her out to make sure I didn't bang myself up_ _too bad during training.  
><em>

Naruto shrugged back, aware that Sakura saw that he understood her real reason for coming out here. It didn't really matter if she was sent to check up on him…in fact this was the perfect opportunity to ask her out to eat with him! 

Naruto gathered up the courage to ask her, because even if he wasn't as nervous as he was as a kid asking her to eat with him still was kind of hard. He was used to rejection but it didn't mean that it made him feel any better. He was just about to ask her when she interrupted him, asking if he was heading to Ichiraku for dinner. 

He nodded, trying to gather up the confidence he had just a second ago when she interrupted him again this time asking if she could come along. 

Naruto just stared at her blankly. Did she invite _herself_ along! Wow, he couldn't believe it, he didn't even have to ask her! _This is a first…  
><em>

"Helloooo, Naruto?" 

_Oh crap!  
><em>

"Uh, yea…yea! You should totally come eat ramen with me; ramen always tastes better when you have someone to eat it with." _Especially with you…  
><em>

Sakura smiled and took Naruto by the hand, dragging him off to town. 

"Come on Naruto hurry it up, I'm really hungry!" Sakura said, jogging with her hand in his. 

Naruto stared at their hands and smiled. 

"Yea, yea, I'm coming." 

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** So I feel like there are many things I should mention. First of all I feel like I tricked you last chapter when I put a winky face after who he would be training with in this chapter…that didn't really mean Sakura, I just put it there because I wanted to. And I thought you might guess who it was because Guy did the same thing in regards to reading Itachi's movements when Kakashi faced Itachi in the village with Kurenai and Asuma. So sorry I didn't mean to trick you lol. Second, I changed the genre because I'm going in a different direction with this than I originally thought I was going to. And third, thank you soooo sooo much to those of you that reviewed. I'm glad you are reading this story and that you are so generous to review :) And also thank you for the favorites and such, that means a lot too. So hopefully you liked it and look forward to the next chapter!**


	8. Whirlpool

**Whirlpool**

Sakura stretched and swung her legs over the edge of her bed, checking her alarm clock as she got up. 6:30 a.m. stared back at her from the face of the clock. She sighed and made her way downstairs to grab some breakfast.

It was too early to get up, especially since she could have slept in today._ I guess my routine at the hospital is too hard to break even when I have the day off_. Yawning she pulled some cereal out of the cupboard, got the milk and drowsily ate her breakfast in silence. 

She didn't even get a full seven hours of sleep last night because she was out so late with Naruto. It was already about eight when they went to Ichiraku and they didn't leave until at least ten. After eating and talking with him they went on a walk, the both of them too hyped up to go to bed.

In Konoha, after about 10:00 p.m. the streets start clearing out as everyone goes home and the shops start to close. The only things open after ten are the bars and the few gambling places in town. Sakura was thankful Konoha was a relatively peaceful place even with the large amount of shinobi that lived here, the last thing she wanted was a bunch of drunks walking the streets after dark. 

The streets were basically empty except her and Naruto, walking just to walk. They talked about random things, mostly about what she had been doing at the hospital since Naruto didn't have much to say seeing that he had just recently come out of a coma. For once Naruto listened without having to interrupt every two minutes and Sakura was once again reminded of how different Naruto became after dark. He was so…serious. It wasn't always like this, when they were smaller he was the same Naruto as always after dark but ever since Sasuke left…

Just another thing that changed within Naruto over the last couple of years…and she didn't know if it made her glad that he grew up a little or sad that he wasn't as energetic. 

Sakura remembered the way his face looked as they walked under the streetlights, she didn't know how it was possible but he looked both calm and seriously deep in thought. And every time they passed a light his blonde hair sparkled so brightly she had to squint. His hair was just like him, so bright and shining. Sakura almost laughed wondering what he would look like with dark hair, certainly not the same.

Then, after walking around for a little over an hour he suggested that they should turn in for the night and walked her to her door. It was a really nice gesture seeing that he lived in the opposite direction. Both of them knew she could knock out anybody who tried to bug her at night but it was nice being treated like a girl, even if she did have super-strength.

He said good night and smiled at her as she stood on her doorstep. It was really weird because if that had been a date Sakura would have expected him to kiss her goodbye but he just walked away. She watched him go and then ran up to her bed with a weird feeling in her chest. Her heart was pounding because the situation was too weird. The look in his eyes was too intense as he said good night; it was like he was trying to find something. Sakura blushed and it took her more than half an hour to get to sleep. She dreamt of the sun shining as she played in the ocean, it was like one of the many vacations her family took when she was a kid. Then, a wave hit her and she drifted out into the ocean on her floatie; yelling for someone to help. The sun blinded her and that's when she woke up this morning. _That was a really weird dream…  
><em>  
>Looking down at the soggy remains of her cereal, Sakura put the bowl in the sink and hastily wrote a note to her parents telling them where she was headed off to. Since she had a day off she was going to spend it the way she wanted to; which was to go for a quick swim and head to the shops. She really needed new shoes, the ones she was wearing now were way to worn-out; just another reminder of how hard she's been working lately. So, after freshening up she made her way out the door into the hazy glow of another morning.<p>

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Naruto punched the battered log for the 500th time, letting out a grunt as he drew his hand back which was now slightly bloody from the amount of punches he just completed. He sat down and wiped his brow with his forearm, the sweat glistening as he flung it away, catching the beams of light that were streaming down from the canopy of trees above.

He'd been at the training grounds since 5:30 that morning. Even though he didn't get much sleep he wasn't even tired from staying out so late the night before. He remembered being so hyper after leaving Ichiraku with Sakura last night but something came over him and he became more and more mellow. Walking with Sakura at night really made him appreciate the fact that she was still here with him. Sometimes he'd have nightmares where Sakura left one day to search for Sasuke on her own, leaving him by himself. Naruto didn't bode well with loneliness, he'd had enough of it from his childhood and now that he had friends he didn't think he could ever stand going back to being on his own all the time. 

Having Sakura by his side that night made Naruto really think about the way things were now. It still felt as though something was missing because Sasuke was gone but there was something else that felt like it was changing. He didn't know what, but it made him nervous and caused him to think about a lot of things, mostly concerning Sasuke, if and when he ever came back.

Does Sasuke even want to come back to Konoha? Does he still feel a bond between them? Does he care at all? It was hard training not knowing the answers to these questions. Every time he saw Sasuke now he looked darker and darker, and he wasn't talking about his tan. Something was missing from Sasuke's eyes…a light maybe? 

Naruto shook his head and stood up, ready to complete another set of exercises instead of dwelling on things that he knew would only make him more depressed. He was about to start his exercise when a small "umm" caused him to turn around. Standing about ten feet away was Hinata, fidgeting a little as they made eye contact. Naruto fully turned around and smiled at her but kept his distance; for some reason whenever he got too close she always got really red, although it's gotten better over the years. 

"Hey Hinata, did you come to train too?" 

"H-hi Naruto, um, yes actually I did…I've been here for a little while…I didn't want to interrupt your training…" 

Naruto took a couple steps towards her feeling that it was safe now that she actually spoke to him. Hinata's head came up a little as she watched him come closer. She gulped and started to speak what she had been practicing to say for several minutes now. 

"U-um, well actually…I was, uh, wondering if I could train…with you? Maybe…" 

Naruto stopped a few feet away and looked at the blushing Hyuuga with surprise. This was a first; usually she just went somewhere else and left him alone. Ah, not that he didn't mind her training with him it was just surprising, that's all.

Hinata was still waiting for his answer, shuffling her feet a bit and looking anxious. Naruto smiled, Hinata was a nice person and even though people got annoyed with her shyness and stuttering, he'd gotten used to it over the years and actually found it a bit endearing now. 

He clapped his hands together causing her to look up, startled by the sound. 

"It'd be awesome if you practiced with me Hinata! I was just thinking about how I could use a sparring partner!" 

Hinata could have fainted, but if she did she wouldn't be able to train with him so she kept her cool and smiled a bit. 

"Thank you…Naruto" 

"No problem! I should be thanking you! Oh, but when we're sparring I'm going to be looking at your feet, it's this new thing that I'm trying out so, just a heads up ya' know?" 

Even though she was a bit puzzled Hinata agreed and they started talking about what they were going to do.

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Sakura took her sweet time heading towards the small spring that was hidden just a little ways away from the training ground. She was sure she wasn't the only one that knew about it but no one would come out to swim so early in the morning so she should be safe. She hummed a little, hitching her bag that held her towel more securely on her shoulder. She felt really good after last night, she couldn't wait to hang out with Naruto again. Her steps faltered and she slowed down to a stop. Did she really just think that?

Ugh. Something was wrong here, Naruto wasn't that special. I guess it's because he hasn't been around lately, she didn't realize how much she noticed when he was gone. They were always together whether it's on missions or just training… 

Sakura started walking again, this time a little faster, today was her day and all she wanted to do was relax and keep her mind off of Naruto and Sasuke. As she got closer to the training grounds she could hear voices talking. She listened a little bit harder and realized that the loud one sounded a lot like Naruto, but who was the other voice? 

"A-are you sure you want to continue Naruto?" 

_Hinata!_

"It's fine Hinata, really I'm not that tired. One more time okay? I really need to get this down."

Sakura hid behind a tree and peeked around it. Naruto was training with Hinata and it looked like he was just…looking at her feet? Oh, this must be what he was doing yesterday with Gai-sensei. They continued to train and Sakura watched for a little while, studying their movements. Naruto was getting better with his agility and Hinata was getting really good with her tai-jutsu. Sakura hadn't really watched Hinata fight that many times before but she was really improving. Team 8 had a lot of missions lately, that's probably why… 

Naruto and Hinata both stopped sparring and Naruto sat down finally raising his eyes to her face instead of her feet. Hinata smiled and sat down across from him glad she could be useful.

"Thanks a lot Hinata, I think I've finally got the hang of it…kind of."

"Of course, I was happy to help you Naruto. Oh! Just wait here a moment, I've got some food in my bag," she said, getting up and pulling two bentos out of her bag.

"Wow Hinata! I was just thinking how I could really use some food, you're the best!" Naruto shouted, hungrily scooting over to see what was inside the bentos. Being pleased with the outcome he grabbed the one she offered and started eating with a quick "Itadakimasu!"

Hinata giggled and starting to eat her bento glad that he enjoyed her cooking so much.

Sakura looked at the two fervently, she kind of felt left out; after all Naruto usually trained with her. Sakura shook her head; she was being too selfish. Naruto had plenty of friends, so what if he trained with other people? She looked back at the two eating happily next to each other. She noticed Hinata glance at Naruto out of the corner of her eye a lot.

Sakura looked closer and felt a slight sense of déjà vu. The look in her eyes…what was that? Hinata was looking at Naruto so closely even though her glances were quick. There was a light that appeared in them when she looked over his way. With a jolt Sakura realized that that was similar to the look Naruto always gave her.

Feeling quite like a stalker, Sakura silently took her leave and headed the long way to the spring instead of having to interrupt their breakfast. Her good mood had all but vanished and instead of swimming to relax she thought that doing some exercise could do her some good right now.

_Calm down Sakura, calm down._

Why did this bug her so much! Sakura was smart, she knew she was so why couldn't she figure out her own feelings? She felt like a kid again, so naïve and always chasing after Sasuke. She finally made it to the spring and taking off her clothes to reveal a bathing suit underneath dived head first into the chilly water.

Emerging completely soaked and quite refreshed, Sakura started doing laps. Around and around she went trying to escape the strange feeling she was experiencing in the pit of her stomach. Her eyes blurred as the water rushed at her ricocheting off her beating arms. The water started to swirl around her and she was floating along in the whirlpool she made herself, closing her eyes and her mind as she listened to the rush of water fill her ears.

It was quite a while later, or so it seemed, when she heard someone yelling her name off in the distance. She paused, wondering if it was just a dream or that someone was, in fact, searching for her. Then she felt the coolness of the water surrounding her body and the voice again calling out her name.

Sakura swam over to the edge of the spring and got out, encasing her body in the warm towel. Quickly drying herself off, she changed back into her clothes and walked in the direction of where the voice was coming from. She heard it again, to her right this time and headed towards it recognizing the familiar voice.

Popping out of some dense shrubs, Naruto stumbled and looked around. Spotting Sakura he smiled and waved, jogging over to meet her.

"Hey Sakura! Where were you, I spent such a long time trying to find you! I have some good news…hey why are you all wet?"

"I was swimming. So what's this about some good news?" Sakura asked a bit apprehensive.

"Well, after I was done training Granny Tsunade came and found me and guess what! We have a mission!"

Naruto was basically jumping out of his pants while Sakura, on the other hand, let her head drop and let out a disgruntled moan.

"Eh? What's wrong Sakura? You don't want to go on a mission?"

Well this was supposed to be her day off…

"I just wasn't expecting one, that's all."

"Don't worry; she said it could wait til tomorrow so you can still relax. I knew it was your day off."

This brightened Sakura's mood considerably.

"Well good…but that wasn't the reason I didn't want to go," Sakura said a bit too fast.

"Uh-huh I'm sure, I know you're not always as hard working as you seem," Naruto said laughing, but after catching the look on Sakura's face, decided to shut up.

Sakura's lips twitched, he knew her so well. But something was bugging her.

"Hey, how'd you know where to find me?"

"Actually, I was training with Hinata earlier and she said she saw you go past sometime. Sorry I didn't notice earlier or else I would've invited you over!"

Sakura turned her face away, blushing because she was embarrassed that the purple-haired kunoichi noticed her earlier. If she really did see her then she must've noticed her behind the tree. Sakura sighed, she wouldn't know how to face her the next time she saw her.

"Hey, Sakura?"

"Yea?"

"Are you upset?"

Sakura looked over and met his eyes. She shrugged, "I was but I'm not anymore really."

Naruto continued to stare at her and shrugged too, "If it isn't a big deal…"

She smiled.

"Not for now." 

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**Yay! New chapter! Sorry it took so long to get out, I was super busy. But now that coaching is done I will have a crap ton of time on my hands so there is a high probability that the next chapter will be out next week! Also, because of this abundance of time I will be starting a new story. No, it's not Naruto; it's actually a Harvest Moon fanfic, so if you're into it you should check it out :D So, give me some feedback if you'd like, I realize these last few chapters have been kind of…lacking? I know. So that's why they're going on a mission. Well there's actually a better reason that they're going on a mission, but you'll find out soon enough. We are finally approaching the climax of the story, and you might be thinking that it's too soon for that but this story wasn't meant to be that long anyways haha. So look forward to it! And thanks for reading and I appreciate all the reviews/favorites and such!**


	9. Burning Questions

**Burning Questions**

_Knock, knock._

"Come in."

Sakura pushed the door open to the Hokage's office and politely bowed in greeting. "My lady, Naruto said you have a mission for us?"

Tsunade looked up from her pile of paperwork, nodded and motioned for her to close the door. Doing so, Sakura then made her way over to the front of the desk.

"Yes, information just came in concerning some Akatsuki members."

Sakura could see Tsunade's face tighten a little as she mentioned the group's name. Sakura felt quite a bit of anger at the group as well, knowing that since they were involved, things couldn't be good. "Did you tell Naruto the details?"

"No, I just told him you guys had a mission. I sent him away with Yamato for the time being to practice on his controlling exercises; he might need them for this mission…" Tsunade turned in her seat and stared at the white clouds obscuring the summer sky.

Sakura looked at the all-too-innocent clouds as well. Those were the beginning of storm clouds.

"Some of our lookouts sent in messenger birds saying they spotted two Akatsuki members just inside the fire country's borders. By the descriptions they gave, it would seem that Itachi Uchiha and his partner Kisame Hoshigaki came for a visit…"

Sakura went stiff. "But Itachi…"

Tsunade sighed. "I know what you're thinking but this is a perfect chance for Naruto to get over it and try out his new training. Plus, you guys might be able to get information about Sasuke out of him."

Sakura fidgeted a bit. She didn't like this idea.

"Who's our team going to be?"

"I'm sending Yamato with you, Naruto and Kakashi, just to make sure Naruto stays in check."

"And Sai?"

"He's on a different mission for Root right now." Tsunade tsked and stamped the paper just a bit harder than it deserved. Anything related to Danzo and she got like that, over the years Sakura had learned to not say his name around her. "I've already let Kakashi and Yamato know about the situation, I'm sure they're filling Naruto in as we speak."

"I see. So we'll be heading out tomorrow morning?"

"Correct. So, make sure you pack the necessary items tonight and get what you need to get done; I'm not sure how many days you'll be gone. First, you'll need to meet up with the ninjas we already have tracking them, and then confront the two. Our main priority is information, but if it comes to a battle, don't hesitate to defeat them. We'll have back-up close by if you need it. If you do manage to defeat them, and I say defeat not kill because we'll need to interrogate them later, bring them back to the village and we'll proceed from there. Do you understand?"

"Yes my lady."

"Good. You're dismissed," Tsunade said, stamping another piece of paper. The pile of paperwork looked to be at the same height as when Sakura had come in and apparently Tsunade noticed this fact as well because she cussed and angrily stamped the next piece of paper.

Sakura smiled a bit and said her goodbye, bowing as she exited the room. Sakura ran her fingers across the wall and looked out the window. She wasn't sure what to think of this mission, it was a bit odd for Tsunade to send the four of them out just for intel and did she really expect them to fight the two of them with just two Jounin, a Chunin and…well Naruto?

Or was this really just for Naruto? Sakura had a nagging suspicion that he was the main reason they were being sent after them, after all it'd be a problem if he couldn't face up to Itachi…especially since he was being hunted by him. Well, that was another thing that didn't make sense. If Itachi was supposed to capture Naruto, why didn't he the night that he attacked him?

Sakura wanted to shake someone. None of it added up, this whole incident was shrouded in mystery. Why was Itachi here if not to capture Naruto? Who did rescue Naruto and why were Itachi and Kisame in the Fire Country? _Gah! I give up; I can't figure it out right now._

Sakura shrugged the thoughts away and made her way to a ninja store, she still needed to buy new shoes.

* * *

><p>Naruto yawned. Why did the mission have to be so early in the morning?<p>

Sakura looked at him and lightly slapped him on the back.

"Ack! Sakuraaaa."

"Oh stop Naruto, it was your own fault if you didn't get enough sleep."

"I did get enough sleep, it's just..just," Naruto said, leading into another giant yawn, "…too early!"

Sakura rolled her eyes but let a small smile show through. He never was a morning person. She looked over her shoulder as Yamato and Kakashi walked over to the two of them.

"Hey guys, I'm glad you're both here."

Sakura smiled at her sensei. "Of course!"

Yamato looked at the three and suggested that they should be on their way if they wanted to meet up with the trackers as soon as possible. Kakashi agreed and the four of them headed out, jogging knowing that they would be able to rest as soon as they met up at the rendezvous point.

The trip there was uneventful, each too busy to talk with thoughts of their own keeping them preoccupied. Once they were close to the small cabin used for various purposes, a rendezvous point in their case, Kakashi signaled for them to slow down. They all stopped, thankful for the rest.

They approached the cabin cautiously, aware that anything could happen. When a Konoha ninja came out and gave the correct password, they proceeded inside and started to talk to the tracker. He explained that his partner was currently confirming the two Akatsuki member's whereabouts and that he should be back within the hour. Kakashi and Yamato continued their conversation with the ninja while Sakura and Naruto sat in the corner together, drinking from their canteens.

Sakura kept sneaking glances at Naruto and had been doing so as they made their way there. She kept expecting to see some sort of worried or apprehensive look appear on his face but so far she saw no signs of fear. She glanced at him again.

"Geez Sakura, would you stop giving me that look? I'm not going to freak out if that's what you're expecting."

Sakura flushed. She didn't think he had noticed. "W-well, I'm just worried, that's all."

"Well don't be. I'm fine. Really." He added, because she didn't look convinced. "What do you think that training was for? I'm ready to face him…if it comes to a battle, I'll definitely have the upper hand!"

Sakura snorted. "Do you even know what that means?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Well, I'll be prepared at least."

Sakura's head leaned to the side. Huh. He was being sensible. "So you're not going to flip out and make some crazy declaration and run head first into battle?"

Naruto frowned. "Why would I do that?" Sakura raised her eyebrows. Did he not know how many times he _had done that!_

"I'm just kidding! Haha, don't give me that look." Naruto backed away as she raised her fist, but she lowered it as she started laughing. Naruto smiled, pleased.

"Sorry to break up this happy moment but the trackers back and we've got their position," Kakashi said, coming over and hovering above them.

Sakura and Naruto instantly put things away and stood up, ready for action. The four of them headed out the door and in the direction of 4 o'clock. Itachi and Kisame were there, about four miles out. The tracker was sure they didn't know they were being tracked but Kakashi had his doubts. This was Itachi they were talking about after all, and Kisame wasn't someone to be underestimated either. He looked over to his right where Naruto was keeping pace with him, his determined look all too familiar.

Kakashi really hoped this wouldn't come to a fight, but with Naruto here the unexpected always seemed to happen.

Yamato stopped them and they cautiously walked forward. Itachi was just ahead and they needed to go over their plan once more. They would all stay at this distance and let their clones go forward in their place.

As long as Itachi didn't immediately activate his sharingan, they should get away with it. Kakashi had a feeling he probably already knew they were coming, and Itachi wasn't one to hastily engage in a fight. Kisame was the one they had to look out for considering his previous rash behavior.

Everything depended on how they will react, there were too many 'ifs' about the situation and Kakashi didn't like it. He made sure the rest of them understood what their mission was mainly about, Naruto especially. Information; that is what they were after. They should avoid a confrontation of any kind.

Naruto nodded. Truthfully, even though he wanted to test out his new skills, fighting Itachi intimidated him a bit. But, he wanted to know why Itachi had attacked him that day. It was so random, and Itachi was by himself. Why did he show Naruto the destruction of Konoha? Plus, he wanted to know who had picked him up and carried him to Sakura's house, he needed to thank them. Itachi held all of these answers, and if he ended up having to fight him he probably wouldn't get them. The four of them split into two teams, Kakashi and Sakura moved to the left while Yamato and Naruto went to the right.

They made their clones and sent them on their way, pausing before showing themselves to the enemy. Itachi and Kisame each sat on a boulder, not at all surprised by the four ninjas appearing from the forest. The clones stopped and looked at the two Akatsuki members. Sakura glanced at Naruto and practically saw the hatred emanating from his body. He must've realized what his face looked like because he rearranged it to a mask of calm. Kakashi and Yamato stood, guarded as Itachi raised his head to meet their gazes.

"Kakashi…and Naruto. We meet again."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed in response, as did Naruto's.

"Here to have a talk?"

"Something like that," Kakashi said.

Itachi's eyes flickered to Naruto. Naruto frowned and stared back. Itachi was looking at him like he was expecting something.

"So…let's talk."

Back with Yamato, Naruto's heart stopped, along with everything else. He stared around him but nothing moved. Yamato was in a crouched position behind some bushes, seemingly paralyzed. Naruto whirled around and saw Itachi come out from behind a tree. He inwardly groaned. How did he keep doing that?

Itachi actually chuckled a little. "Don't worry Naruto, I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here for the same reason you are; to talk."

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Don't bullshit me, why would you need to talk to me?"

Itachi looked towards the sky, the wind blowing his bangs in front of his face. "I have my reasons, as do you. We all have our secrets, do we not Naruto?" Itachi turned his attention back to the blonde and gave him a look that Naruto couldn't explain. Naruto swallowed and took a step closer.

"All right. Let's talk."

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, yes. I know this update is super late. My professors were like "Here Lauren, have this crap ton of homework! Yayyy!" -_-' And then 20% of that was me being lazy over break. So, I'm sorry and hopefully this chapter didn't dissapoint. I know it's a bit short but that was a good point to end on. So, thank you for reading, thanks to those that comment and favorite and the like. Until next time~ :D<strong>


	10. Hidden Faith

**Hidden Faith**

Naruto swallowed. He was trapped in one of Itachi's illusions, _again_. Why did this keep happening to him? It might help if he was any good at genjutsu himself but, unfortunately, he had no talent for it whatsoever. Curse it all. He looked back up at Itachi and held his gaze, prepared for whatever Itachi was going to throw at him this time.

Itachi was almost amused by the boy's reaction. One part of him was surprised he was standing his ground after what he was put through last time and the other part was a bit impressed. He remembered when he put Sasuke through a similar situation, and he hadn't been quite so resilient, running off with that snake bastard. How he despised Orochimaru, the coward. But, that was not his priority right now. Right now, he needed to talk to Naruto.

"Naruto…you and your friends had a clever plan there, if only I hadn't been following you since your rendezvous point."

Naruto tsked. He shouldn't have expected any less, this was Itachi after all. He wondered what was happening with the clones, and was he the only one Itachi followed? What about the others?

Naruto glared at him. "What's happening to my friends? Did you follow them too?" Itachi did not answer him back. "Answer me!" Naruto half-yelled, raising his fist.

"There is no need to get upset, your friends are safe. You are the only one I wish to talk to." He shifted his position and relaxed his stance a bit. Maybe Naruto will see he doesn't want to fight.

Naruto did indeed notice his enemy's movement and unintentionally relaxed a bit himself. Did he really just want to talk? Was that the reason they were still in the fire country? _Maybe he purposely let himself be seen and somehow knew that I would be sent out? _He didn't think it was possible for anyone to execute a plan as flawlessly as Itachi did. Naruto lowered his fist; somehow he knew this was important, important enough that Itachi would risk his location.

"Alright then…you said you wanted to talk to me. So what is it?" Naruto looked at him; hopefully if he answered whatever questions Itachi had for him, he would do the same in return.

Itachi almost smiled. He was cooperating at last. "Well, Naruto I'm sure you haven't forgotten the last time we met, right?" Naruto only glared in return. If looks could kill…

"Have you given thought as to why I showed you the destruction of Konoha?" Itachi saw Naruto's face flicker in shock. He sincerely hoped he had given it some thought, surely Naruto wasn't _that _stupid.

Naruto was confused now, why was he asking such an obvious question?

"Of course I have…though I don't know why."

"I wouldn't expect you too." Naruto bit his lip; he really didn't need a reminder of his stupidity at a time like this. Itachi stared at Naruto, willing him to understand what he's about to tell him. "Naruto, you must listen to me. If you do not stop Sasuke, Konoha will be destroyed."

Naruto was completely taken aback; losing his balance he took a step backwards to right himself. Konoha…destroyed! Surely he wasn't serious. And why would Sasuke destroy Konoha? He only wanted to kill Itachi, that's why he ran away, to gain power. Naruto couldn't believe it.

"What do you mean? Sasuke wouldn't destroy Konoha!"

Itachi exhaled slowly. He didn't completely believe it himself; he never did anything to push him in that direction. He also knew that his secret was still in fact, a secret. But…that vision. He couldn't get it out of his head. Itachi didn't know what the future held, but he had a feeling deep in his bones that he would not be around to watch everything unfold. There were many possibilities…but he didn't have enough information yet.

"Yes…I can understand your disbelief, but I believe it to be true. Sasuke is with Orochimaru, don't forget. And I know you've noticed a change in Sasuke, he is not the same Sasuke you knew."

Naruto couldn't help but let his head slump forward a little. He stared at the ground. He knew Sasuke was changing…had changed. His eyes…they were so dark. Naruto sighed; there was only so much he could do, if only he could talk to him. He looked back at Itachi. Naruto got the feeling he and Itachi were more alike than he had thought.

"I…admit that Sasuke has changed. But, that doesn't mean he wants to destroy Konoha! Why would he, the only thing he wants is revenge…against you."

Itachi nodded, "That is true, but there could be many reasons why he would want to, he's just not aware of them yet. And don't forget, Konoha's destruction may be in the hands of others as well. The future is unclear, many things can happen but I feel a great disturbance in the Shinobi world and I think that Sasuke could be the key."

"The key to what…?"

Itachi paused. He was second guessing himself; after all, he had no facts to back him up only visions…images. He was too confident in himself but what if the gods were telling him that instead of saving Sasuke, he should die instead? How ironic that would be. He closed his eyes. No, he would not believe that, everything has happened for a reason and he knew Sasuke needed to live.

Naruto was staring at Itachi and if he was right, Itachi was actually looked troubled. Naruto was thoroughly confused, Itachi wasn't acting like the cruel Akatsuki member he knew he was. In fact, Itachi was almost being friendly…or at least civil. Naruto shook his head. No, no he is only acting this way because there must be something in it for him. _Remember Naruto, this is the man that put you into a coma and tortured Sasuke and countless other Shinobi, including his own family._

Itachi finally looked up. Naruto immediately gave him his attention. Good, at least he is listening properly, Itachi thought. "He is the key…to peace. Naruto, you must save him, you also can bring peace to the world, but only together can you succeed."

Now Naruto was really confused. Itachi was sounding like some kind of motivational poster or something. He didn't want to listen to him, but something about it just felt so…right? He could feel it in his gut, it made sense. Had he known it all along?

He raised his chin and looked Itachi straight in the eye. "I will make Sasuke see the light, if it is the last thing I do. Believe it!" Naruto would've given a thumbs up if it wasn't Itachi standing in front of him.

Itachi gave him a rare smile and started to undo his jutsu. Naruto noticed this and called out for him to wait. "Itachi! I need to know, who rescued me last time!" Itachi looked down at him as the scene began to blur, thinking about his answer. "If you wish to know the answer so bad, find Sasuke…he will know."

Naruto stared at him in disbelief. "Sasuke?" Itachi only nodded his head infinitely in reply and disappeared. He was looking forward to how everything would play out next, but for now he and Kisame needed to get back to the Amegakure.

Everything unfroze and Naruto was left standing next to Yamato, who, aware that Naruto was no longer leaning down behind the bush was trying to silently get his attention. When that failed, he grabbed Naruto by the sleeve and pulled him down. Naruto stumbled and was forced into a sitting position.

"Naruto, what are you doing? I realize we are not within viewing range of the enemy but standing out in the open like that is foolish!" Yamato whispered. Naruto blinked and realized that he was no longer in Itachi's jutsu. Yamato continued to look at Naruto, annoyed that he wasn't listening to him. "Naruto, did you hear me, I was say-"

"Hold that thought, I have to tell you something," Naruto interrupted. Yamato looked offended. Naruto quickly apologized and explained what just happened. By the end, Yamato's face was quite amusing, his eyebrows almost disappearing under his headband.

"Let me get this straight…Itachi trapped you in a genjutsu, talked to you…and just let you go? Just like that?" Naruto nodded. "I know weird right?"

Yamato let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "Yea. I'll say."

Yamato was more concerned about what Itachi had told Naruto, though he was sure that he had left out part of the conversation. Had Itachi only come to warn Naruto of Konoha's unforeseen destruction? But even if he had, why would he? He was one with the Akatsuki; a warning would be double crossing the organization, unless this was a mission given to him by his leader? Yamato didn't trust Itachi but there wasn't any proof that he was lying or leading them into a trap.

He would have to tell Tsunade about this and leave it up to the intelligence department; maybe they could connect the dots.

"Yamato-sensei, what about our clones, what will we do now, I think Itachi already left."

This did put them in a rather odd situation, so Yamato suggested they go and catch Kakashi and Sakura up to speed then move in closer to survey the situation. Doing as he said, they contacted the others and proceeded to slowly move in closer to where their clones were, apparently, still conversing with Itachi and Kisame.

As they moved in closer, Naruto couldn't be sure but he thought he saw Itachi's eyes momentarily flicker in their general direction. "I think it is time to leave. Kisame, let's go." Before their clones could even speak, Itachi and Kisame vanished in a poof of smoke.

"It looks like they used clones too," Kakashi said, getting out from behind a bush, a gesture that meant Itachi and Kisame were no longer a threat and probably very far away by now.

He undid his clone, everyone else following suit. The conversation that happened between the clones was now known by the four Leaf Village Shinobi, the information having been absorbed when they undid their jutsus.

The four looked at each other, all puzzled by what just happened. Kakashi crossed his arms, processing what had taken place…

* * *

><p>"<em>Here to have a talk?"<em>

"_Something like that," Kakashi said._

_Itachi's eyes flickered to Naruto. Naruto frowned and stared back. Itachi was looking at him like he was expecting something. _

"_Well, what do you wish to talk about?" Itachi asked. Kakashi narrowed his eyes, was he really just going to stand there and talk to them? His eyes flickered to Kisame. He didn't look as calm as Itachi, but when does he ever?_

"_I don't understand why we're here Itachi." Itachi spared his partner a look._

_He silently communicated with Kisame through a genjutsu. "I told you I could handle this by myself but you were the curious one, you do not need to be here."_

_Kisame just frowned in response. "I know you're up to something involving the Kyuubi brat, I was curious but if you're just going to talk maybe I shouldn't have come after all."_

"_What did you expect? I am not so foolish to engage in a fight with the four of them at once. " Kisame just shrugged. _

_Kakashi noticed the silent exchange of words and tensed up. Were they forming a strategy? Itachi looked over in his direction then shifted his gaze to Naruto. "I'm sure you all would like to know where Sasuke is, right?"_

_Naruto and Sakura were instantly rapt with attention. "You know where Sasuke is?" Naruto asked, doubt in his voice. Kakashi and Yamato only looked at Itachi, both thinking that Itachi was not to be trusted. _

"_There is a place in the Land of Rivers called the Inja-Numa, Sasuke will be there ten days from now."_

_Kakashi only grew more suspicious. "And what will we find when we get there? A group of Akatsuki members to try and capture Naruto?"_

_Sakura and Yamato stiffened. As much as Sakura wanted to believe Itachi was telling them the truth, there was still the possibility this could all be a trap. Naruto was the first to speak. "Will he be alone?"_

"_I cannot say for sure," was all Itachi said. Naruto didn't like Itachi, you could very well say that he actually hated the man but even if this was a trap, he was still grateful for the tip. Anything that could point in the direction of Sasuke he considered a godsend. _

_Kakashi looked over at Naruto, who apparently seemed to have taken everything Itachi said to heart. Kakashi didn't trust Itachi…but what if what he said was true? He was going to have to consult Tsunade about this but if he knew Naruto…and Sakura too, they wouldn't let this go. He looked at Itachi. "Why are you telling us this?"_

_Itachi didn't meet his gaze, instead he turned to Naruto and said, "You will find out eventually…"_

* * *

><p>And after that, they left, leaving them in their present situation. After what Naruto told him about his private conversation with Itachi he figured the two were connected. Kakashi knew better than to discount everything that Itachi had said, a threat to the village is not something to be taken lightly. Whether it was Itachi's own organization that was going to play a hand in it or someone else, they needed to come up with a plan.<p>

Kakashi told the others that they were to go back to the rendezvous point, notify the other ninjas that back-up was no longer necessary, and then head back to the village to report. Everyone agreed and began their way back, Naruto pausing a moment to turn and look at the spot Itachi had vacated. He couldn't be sure but as Itachi disappeared he could've sworn he heard a soft 'I will believe in you'.

Naruto smiled and jogged to catch up to the rest. It was time to go back to the village and hopefully go find Sasuke.

* * *

><p><strong>So? How was it? Hopefully not confusing, if something doesn't make sense feel free to ask me, along with any mistakes that you notice. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out; if you haven't noticed I'm not exactly the most consistent person ever. Ah well…oh and if you were wondering what Inja-Numa means, it means Hermit Swamp. It's not a real place, I just made it up. Well review if you want and thanks for the reviews, favorites and alerts as always. Bye now!<strong>


	11. Reality

**Reality**

* * *

><p>"<em>Sasuke! Sasuke wait!"<em>

_Naruto was running, forever running. His legs were heavy as lead and his eyes were burning from the relentless pressure of the wind pressing him back. He squinted and saw Sasuke walking a set distance ahead of him, partly obscured by the shadows that surrounded him. He was always there, always at that set distance. No matter how far or how fast Naruto ran, he could never catch up. And no matter how loud he yelled, Sasuke never turned around._

_Was he ignoring him? Could he not hear his desperate pleas to wait? _

_How can he reach him in this never ending cycle? _

_Itachi's voice echoed around him. "He is the key…to peace. Naruto, you must save him, you also can bring peace to the world, but only together can you succeed."_

_Suddenly Itachi appeared ahead of him. "Naruto you must save him."_

_Naruto yelled back, "What do you mean! How! Tell me, Itachi!"_

_As Naruto said Itachi's name he could see Sasuke turn around behind Itachi. "Sasuke! Sasuke, can you hear me!"_

_Sasuke didn't seem to notice his voice and continued staring at the back of Itachi's head. He pulled out his katana and started running toward his brother._

"_Itachi! Behind you! Sasuke, stop!"_

_His words fell on deaf ears and he watched, horrified, as Sasuke thrusted his katana through Itachi's heart. Itachi didn't seem to notice even as blood trickled down his chin. _

"_Save him. Save him."_

Naruto bolted up in his bed, heart pounding. His shirt was sticking to his back, sweat rolling down his spine. He took a long breath in and exhaled, his body shaking. He waited for his heart to slow and his body to stop its tremors and looked out the window. He squinted, the bright morning sun blinding his eyes. He was both surprised and unsurprised by the nightmare; after all, today was the day they headed for Inja-Numa…to Sasuke.

He took one last deep breath and changed into his clothes. It's been about eight days since their encounter with Itachi and things have been pretty calm around Konoha. Which, Naruto thought, was pretty contradictory to his mood since he's been nothing but restless. And, although she'd never admit it, Sakura was restless too; she was just better at hiding it.

Naruto had only used his apartment to sleep since he was always out doing something. He even took on a bunch of D rank missions just to keep himself busy. Planting seeds for some old man's garden wasn't the most fun thing to do but at least it kept him occupied. Sakura was lucky; she had her work at the hospital to occupy her mind.

He started to go around his room and pack, restocking his shuriken and swapping his old scrolls for new ones. He also made sure to pack plenty of medicinal supplies like bandages and gauze, aware that they were essential for a long trip. He learned that the hard way when, on a previous long mission, he forgot to pack smaller bandages and had to go for days with blisters on his feet.

Hitching his bag against his back, Naruto headed for the main gate, early for once. His feet made mini dust clouds against the dry dirt of the road he was traveling on. He breathed the hot air in through his mouth and let it out with a sigh. It was hot, and the air was so dry, it was a good thing he packed extra water. The weather was so stale, another thing that contradicted his mood.

If the weather reflected his mood, Naruto thought, the air would be crackling because of the immense tension building in his body. He unconsciously grabbed his stomach which, for some time, had been knotted into a ball. He imagined the nine-tails ready to pounce inside of him. He shook his head and slapped his palm against his forehead. Now was not the time to be concentrating on these things, he needed to relax and loosen up or else all of his energy will be drained before he even gets to Sasuke.

That's right! Think positive! They WILL bring Sasuke back this time. They will. They…will…

Naruto sighed again. It wasn't easy being so cheerful all of the time. He didn't think people realized that as he is saying all of the confident stuff he says, he's trying to reassure himself at the same time.

"What's up Naruto?"

Naruto turned around and saw Konohamaru walking by himself. "Oh, hey Konohamaru, whatcha up to?"

Konohamaru smiled and puffed out his chest. "I'm on my way to the training field to practice a new jutsu I learned yesterday!"

"Sweet! Just keep at it and maybe someday you'll be at my level." Naruto teased.

Konohamaru crossed his arms. "I'll be able to beat you soon enough Naruto! Don't forget, I'M the one who's going to be the next Hokage!"

"Right. Right. Well, I need to go; I'm going on a mission today."

"Oh yeah, to…get Sasuke, right?" Konohamaru asked. He was always kind of nervous to mention Sasuke around Naruto.

"Yeah. To get Sasuke." Naruto said. He waved goodbye and started walking away.

"Don't look so down Naruto!" Konohamaru yelled after him.

Naruto silently chuckled and raised his hand in response. Konohamaru could always tell when something was wrong, he was so much smarter than him…but then again almost everyone was. Maybe he will become Hokage. But not before him! You didn't need to be really smart to be Hokage. He didn't really think the third was that smart, and look at Granny Tsunade! All she does is drink sake and gamble. He would definitely be a better Hokage than her.

* * *

><p>Back in her office Tsunade sneezed.<p>

"Oh, M'lady, someone must be talking about you." Said Shizune, TonTon oinking in agreement.

"I'm sure it's one of the villagers praising me, heh, right Shizune?" asked Tsunade, nodding her head as if she was absolutely sure she was right.

"Yea right…probably one of your debt collectors…," muttered Shizune under her breath.

"Did you say something?"

"N-no M'lady!"

Tsunade eyed her suspiciously then walked over to the window. She gazed over the village, bright under the cloudless sky. She hoped Team Kakashi would be successful this time. She didn't know how much more disappointment Sakura could take. And Naruto…

"Thinking about Naruto?" Shizune asked, coming up to stand beside her. She smiled; Tsunade was always worrying about him.

Tsunade smiled too. "Yes…"

"Do you think they'll be able to bring Sasuke back this time?"

Tsunade closed her eyes. "I don't know Shizune. I don't know."

They both looked outside and sighed. Down below Sakura walked out of the Hokage's mansion, done with her daily report on hospital conditions and made her way to the gate already packed and ready.

She didn't really know what was going on with her today, she had so many emotions to deal with lately, and it was kind of frustrating her. This always happened when they went on a mission related to Sasuke. Or if she heard news about Sasuke. Or if Sasuke's name was mentioned.

Well, basically she got this way with anything Sasuke-related. But, today was sort of different. She was nervous for the mission, not only because it was really important but also because this was the first time she'd be around Naruto since _that_ incident.

Although this short break was pretty uneventful for Naruto, Sakura has had an interesting one to say the least. Yes, she's been working at the hospital and helping Lady Tsunade but there was also this one thing that really got her…agitated.

It wasn't very long ago, a couple days maybe, when she was done with her shift and decided to go for another swim since it got interrupted the last time. But, instead of seeing Naruto and Hinata along the way, she only ran into Hinata. Well, Sakura thought, it actually kind of seemed like Hinata was purposely looking for her.

Hinata was still shy but lately she's been coming out of her shell more and more, and that was a good thing…well it should be but she's actually been bugging Sakura a little.

First, she's actually training and eating lunch with Naruto (Sakura wasn't really sure why this bugged her exactly but training was kind of their thing so she felt sort of betrayed) and then what Hinata had told her the other day.

Hinata walked up to Sakura and greeted her in her usual quiet and polite way. Sakura said hello back and inquired to why she was walking around in the forest. She didn't really look like she was training.

"I…was just taking a walk," she had said. Sakura accepted that, although she was acting kind of weird. Before Sakura could say goodbye though Hinata asked her if she could spare some time.

"Sure, what's up?" Sakura said. She wasn't really in a hurry.

"I just wanted to know…how do you feel about Naruto?"

This was the part that took her off guard. What was she talking about? Even now Sakura was confused about the question. She thought it was obvious.

"He's an idiot of a teammate but…he's a good friend. Really annoying though. Kind of like a kid."

Hinata looked down, still troubled. "No. I meant…as a man. How do you feel about him?"

"W-what?" Sakura was kind of surprised a question like that came out of Hinata's mouth.

"Do you love him? More than a friend?" Hinata asked. She sure was being straightforward. This was really uncharacteristic of her.

"I – of course I don't love him like that. He's like a kid brother, why are you asking me this?" That's right, how could she love Naruto? She does recognize that he's grown up but he's still a kid on the inside. Right? A love interest…the only love she's ever had was Sasuke.

Sakura froze. Was Sasuke? She just referred to that as past tense. She still loved him, she always would. Why did she do that?

Hinata only shook her head. Why was she doing that, did she think she was lying?

"It's true! I don't like him like that. Don't look as if I'm the one who's wrong; you're wrong for even suggesting it. Naruto's a friend. A comrade. Nothing more, so don't…don't ask me again, okay?" Sakura didn't know why she was so angry but she didn't want Hinata to think she loved Naruto. That's just…just weird!

Hinata looked hurt, but there was also some anger there as well. "I'm sorry for upsetting you Sakura, it wasn't my intention but…I don't think I'm wrong. I know because…because I love Naruto and I see the way you look at him sometimes. It's the same…and surely you must know that he loves you, and I…I accept that but…he deserves someone better! You, who have always picked Sasuke over Naruto. I don't care if you love him but if you love Sasuke too, you'll only end up hurting Naruto. It's not fair to him; you already cause him enough pain as it is. You _and_ Sasuke! I won't let you do that to him, s-so if you do love him y-you'd better be sure or else…o-or else…" Hinata suddenly realized that she was actually yelling at Sakura, threatening to make it worse, and stopped talking. She put a hand over her mouth, mumbled out an apology and ran away.

Sakura just stood there and stared off into space. She was just yelled at by Hinata…and was told that she loved Naruto…and that he loved her too? Sakura squeezed the bridge of her nose. She didn't know what to make of this. She knew that Naruto always had a thing for her but…was it this serious? And she knew Hinata loved Naruto but…to go so far? And Sasuke…does she still love him…and does Naruto really feel pain over that?

Probably. If Sasuke had liked another girl she would've been terribly hurt. And how was Hinata so sure that she liked Naruto? What has she done to demonstrate any sort of feeling like that towards him? She racked her brain for some answers but she couldn't think properly. She needed to go talk to Ino.

Ino wasn't much help either. She actually just laughed at Sakura and, for the first time, was actually serious about her being stupid. Stupid! She was the smartest Kunoichi back at school, she wasn't dumb. When she retaliated Ino just shook her head and told her to think about it. Sakura then went back to her house and thought.

Then she slept and her dreams were so confusing with Hinata yelling at her, then turning into Akamaru and barking at her and then Naruto coming in and pulling out some flowers to confess his undying love for Sakura. She vaguely remembers Sasuke being in the background but he was covered in some sort of veil and she couldn't see him clearly.

So, here she was about to go on a mission with a guy that loves her, who she might love herself, to rescue a guy that she loves…or used to love…It was all so confusing! Even though she loved Sasuke for so long doesn't mean she has any experience, after all, she was training for the last two and a half years, not thinking about love. Maybe she should be like Sai and go to the library for some references. Sakura sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

No use in getting worked up about it now, she'll save this stuff for after the mission. After they brought back Sasuke! So, with new determination Sakura quickened her pace and was soon at the front gate, Naruto and Yamato already there. Of course Kakashi wasn't but she already expected that. Sakura greeted the two and quickly looked away; she didn't want to make eye contact with Naruto, but Naruto barely noticed since he was so preoccupied with his own thoughts.

The three waited in silence until their leader Kakashi arrived in a puff of smoke and, after a half-baked excuse for his tardiness, they set off to Inja-Numa.

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><p><strong>Oh man. I'm having such a bad case of writers block. I'm sure you can tell, since I feel like this chapter was as enjoyable as…asparagus. You know, pretty stringy and hard to eat? Yea…like asparagus. I'm sorry, I feel like college has sucked the life out of me (main reason why I haven't updated in so long). I've been studying like there's no tomorrow and that doesn't really leave me much time to indulge in anything else. Oh college, only a month until I am free from you…at least for a few months. THIS IS WHAT HAVING TO HAVE AN 'A' IN EVERY CLASS DOES TO YOU PEOPLE. Just kidding :) So anyways, feel free to review and you know, lift my spirits, express concerns, write hateful things about my crappy writing…ahaha…please don't do that T_T<br>Well, thanks for reading. Bye!**


	12. Before the Fight

**Before the Fight**

"I'll take the first shift; you can go and get some sleep."

"No, I can Kakashi-sensei, I'm wide awake and probably won't be able to get to sleep anyways," said Naruto, turning away from the recently doused fire. They had just finished their meal and were getting ready to turn in for the night, Yamato and Sakura already settled in their sleeping bags. Naruto was far too restless thinking about tomorrow's mission and seeing Sasuke again to be able to get to sleep and was relieved when Kakashi let him take over.

"Alright, but wake me in two hours, okay?" Kakashi asked, slipping into his sleeping bag.

"Right."

Naruto sat up purposely putting himself into an uncomfortable position so as not to become the least bit drowsy. His eyes open and alert, he waited until he could hear the deep even breathing coming from his comrades that told him they were fast asleep. Silently getting up he conjured a shadow clone to take his place as watchman and tip-toed away from the clearing and into the forest to clear his head. He knew he probably shouldn't be sneaking away in the dead of night but he wasn't going to go far and if danger did befall their camp, he wouldn't be too far off to come back and defend it. And plus, he thought, they had various traps around the area to be alerted of any ninja that wander too close so it wasn't as if he was leaving them totally unguarded.

Clenching and unclenching his fists, he paced back and forth, careful not to make too much noise. He heard an owl hoot nearby and squinted into the dark canopy of trees. The forest was so silent and peaceful, totally opposite to how he was feeling at the moment. Nerves getting the best of him, he couldn't have stayed still much longer. He didn't quite understand why he was getting this agitated; after all, he had faced Sasuke before.

Naruto sighed. It was the conversation with Itachi that kept popping up into his head. It was obviously important that he needed to bring Sasuke back but even more so according to Itachi. He didn't understand, the Uchiha were all so mysterious. And Itachi had said that if he talked to Sasuke he'd know who had rescued him last time. But why would he? Was he there when Itachi attacked him? And why did Itachi attack him in the first place? Somehow, he thought, **that** he would never know.

Naruto was suddenly aware of someone watching him. It's not that he could see anyone, but rather he felt their presence hiding somewhere to his left. He casually slipped his hand inside his pocket and, as quickly as he could, flung a shuriken, which lodged itself into a nearby tree. As it did so he heard an "Ah!" and put his guard up as someone walked out from behind the tree.

"Are you trying to kill me or what?" asked a shaken Sakura as she came out of hiding.

"Well, I wouldn't have tried if you would have just came out and talked to me like a normal person," he said, relaxing his stance.

Sakura blushed. "Well, you seemed to be lost in thought and I didn't want to disturb you."

Naruto just shrugged. "So, did you hear me get up or something?"

"Sort of, I wasn't asleep when you left so I heard you make a shadow clone and walk off this way. I was wondering where you went when you didn't return right away so I came out here to check on you," she said, walking towards him. "So, why are you out here?"

Naruto smiled a little. "Same reason you couldn't get to sleep I'm sure."

Sakura smiled back. "Yea, I'm nervous too. Did it help any? Walking around I mean," she asked.

"No," he said, chuckling a little, "not one bit."

"Sasuke is lucky," she said, looking at the ground, "here we are worrying and I bet he doesn't think of us at all." She looked up and smiled. It was a sad smile. Naruto did a bit of a half-grin and looked up at the parts of the sky he could see through the trees.

"Yeah…last time he really seemed like he couldn't care less about us anymore, didn't he?"

Sakura closed her eyes and turned around. She couldn't help but think that what Naruto said was true, he really didn't care anymore.

"I think that's why I'm getting so nervous, part of me believes this is all hopeless because he's so…so…," Naruto trailed off.

"Emotionless? Uncaring?" Sakura filled in for him.

"Right. It's like our team, all of our memories, they don't matter anymore. If I knew that he cared at least a little bit, I think I'd be a bit more optimistic about him coming back," said Naruto. He could hope that Sasuke still cared but since he's never really showed that he still does, that's all he's left to do; hope.

"Yes…but even before Sasuke's never been one to show his emotions and loose his cool," Sakura said. Honestly, that was one of the things she admired about him. He was always the calm one who got them out of trouble. Naruto agreed, but thought that rather than it being an admirable trait, it was more of an annoying one. Why couldn't he just let go?

As he was pondering this, Sakura just stood there watching his face reflect the thoughts inside his head. She might admire Sasuke for being cool-headed but the way Naruto was able to communicate exactly what he wanted was something to be admired as well. Plus, a lot easier to understand, she thought. He might be clumsy and not as bright as Sasuke but…he cared. He was so devoted to everything he put his mind to, including Sasuke and the rest of Team 7. He would never betray the village…or break her heart. Maybe it was time to move on…

Just after she thought this she heard a tiny rustle coming from the trees and only had enough time to warn Naruto before pulling out her kunai and clashing with a long katana that shone in the moonlight that was pouring down in splotches from the night sky. Walking out of the shadows, the figure pushed hard against her kunai, forcing her to break their contact and jump backwards, next to Naruto. Naruto, having already pulled out a kunai stared as the figure came into view. There was no mistaking that face.

It looked like Sasuke was a day early.

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><p><strong>Ahhh, I feel like I don't even deserve to write anything to you but I guess I should explain myself. I know it has been forever since I've updated and I doubt anyone is even following this anymore since it's been so long. I had the longest block ever (and by block I mean writers block) and I couldn't write anything, it was horrible. I've no idea why (does anyone ever really know?) but I felt really bad about it. I forced out a chapter and was revising it when I realized that it really sucked because you can't really force yourself to write without it being crap. So I scrapped that and finally, finally I felt inspired to write something and this popped out of my head. I know its short, but it was the best place to stop and the next chapter will be out shortly since I actually know what I'm going to write this time (I promise, it really will be out shortly this time lol). Well, my apologies about the wait but hopefully you'll forgive me. Thanks for reading! Bye :)<strong>


	13. A Turn of Events

**A Turn of Events**

"Sasuke?" Naruto said in disbelief. There he was, putting his katana in its sheath, his face half in shadow. Just after they were talking about him too, what a surprise, Naruto thought. Sakura, although surprised as well, was more worried about what this meant for their mission. Sasuke was a day early and they were totally unprepared. Somehow she had to figure out a plan and relay it to Naruto, and soon.

Sasuke took one step out from the shadows and instantly his entire figure was bathed in moonlight. He looked from Naruto to Sakura, his face completely impassive. His eyes narrowed fractionally, "What is your business here?"

Sakura's eyes flickered to Naruto and gave him a hard stare before quickly replying. "We're on a mission for the leaf, what are you doing here?"

Naruto turned his head and was looking at her with a very confused look on his face. What was she talking about, she already knew why Sasuke was there and she made is sound as if their mission had nothing to do with him either. He was about to say something when she caught his eye and furrowed her brow. He knew that look. She must have a plan, he thought. He closed his mouth and went back to staring at Sasuke instead.

Sasuke hesitated for a fraction of a second before answering. "It doesn't concern you."

Naruto scowled. What was with that answer? We answered him. Maybe not completely truthfully but at least we gave an answer. Well, at least we already know what he's doing here, he thought and let it go.

Sakura was less perturbed by his answer, expecting him to keep quiet. She considered telling him that they already knew his plan but decided against it. After all, if she did she'd be giving away that there was someone on the inside that leaked out Orochimaru's plans to the Akatsuki. It wouldn't cause much trouble for them but even if the spy was working with Akatsuki there was still a chance that Konoha could come by more information on Sasuke through them somehow. No, it was best to keep it hidden. She smiled innocently and put her hands behind her back. "Well, uh, now what are we supposed to do? We're here for different reasons…you need to complete your mission, and we need to complete ours."

As she said this she quickly made hand signs behind her back, trying to act as naturally as possible. If she could delay him and then catch him off guard, Naruto might be able to keep him occupied long enough for her to run back to camp and get Yamato and Kakashi.

But before she could complete the necessary hand signs her wrist was caught and put up against her back. Standing behind her was a clone of Sasuke's. "Now, now Sakura, you weren't planning on attacking me…were you?" said the clone Sasuke, twisting her wrist and making her wince in pain.

"Let go of her Sasuke," snarled Naruto, jumping over to help only to be blocked by the real Sasuke. There was a sound of clashing metal as they met and started fighting, Sasuke with his katana and Naruto with a kunai. Naruto didn't have time to do anything but dodge his attacks, flipping backwards as the katana came within inches of his face. He eyes darted to Sakura still in the clone's grip.

"Tell me why you're really here, Sakura," The clone said. Sakura craned her neck around to look at him.

"We're here to bring you back," she said, concentrating chakra towards her arm and breaking his grip. She dropped to the ground and attempted a high-powered kick, Sasuke's clone jumping back out of the way and pulling out his katana. Sakura punched the ground to unbalance him and darted forward. The clone jumped up and landed on a branch nearby. He made a series of hand signs and a giant fireball issued from his mouth and shot towards Sakura. She had no other choice but to jump into the air to dodge his attack.

Sasuke's clone jumped towards her and aimed his katana. Sakura watched in panic, aware that she didn't have enough time to counter and on the ground Naruto watched in horror, locked in battle with the real Sasuke.

"Sakura!" He shouted desperately. Sasuke wouldn't kill her…would he?

Sakura closed her eyes, preparing for the impact but instead of feeling the pain of a katana piercing her she felt the pain of a rough shove and opened her eyes to see Kakashi sending the clone's katana into the air and a wooden stake shoot up from the ground, getting rid of Sasuke's clone in a poof of smoke.

She let herself fall and landed on the ground. "Kakashi-sensei! And Yamato-taichou!"

"It's a good thing Naruto's cone woke us up or else that would have ended badly, "Yamato said, turning to Sakura with a slight grin.

"Well the funs not over yet," said Kakashi, turning his attention to where Naruto and Sasuke were still locked in battle.

Naruto was still dodging Sasuke's attacks, which had become fiercer with the appearance of the two Jounin. Hesitating for a fraction of a second, Naruto was too late to avoid the gash that appeared on his sleeve. He winced and jumped backwards, hand against his arm to staunch the flow of blood. The, instead of taking the opportunity to attack, Sasuke stepped back.

Noticing this, Kakashi was about to attempt to restrain him but before he could do so a second Naruto popped out of the bush behind Sasuke and moved his arms under Sasukes, pulling back and pinning him against his chest.

Sasuke didn't struggle and stood there, he knew that even he couldn't go against the four of them all at once. It was better to wait for an opening.

"Well, Sasuke, it looks like you're in a bit of a bind," said Kakashi, walking over to where Naruto's clone was restraining Sasuke.

Sasuke stood still with an almost bored expression on his face. "So, now what? You have me captured, just like you wanted."

Sakura and Naruto exchanged glances with each other, both of them thinking that it was too good to be true. Did they dare get their hopes up?

Kakashi wasn't so quick to hope. This did seem like an unlikely turn of events, too unlikely. It was best to keep his guard up. "Well, I thought that would be obvious, we're taking you back to Konoha."

"And what if I resist?" Sasuke asked, challenging him.

"Then I guess we'll have to take you by force," said Kakashi.

"I don't think that will be necessary."

Everyone except Sasuke snapped their heads in the direction the new voice was heard and saw a cloaked figure emerge from the shadows.

Yamato and Kakashi made the same movement, stepping closer together and putting themselves as s shield between the stranger and the three young ninjas. Kakashi admonished himself for not sensing him nearby. Whoever they were, they were good.

Sakura peeked around Yamato's shoulder to get a better look and watched as the stranger lifted his hood.

Kabuto had joined the party. Kakashi should have anticipated this; it was highly unusual for Sasuke to be allowed to go anywhere by himself, or at least without someone watching him. But still, he thought, even if Kabuto was tough, it was still four against one.

Kabuto smiled and shook his head, correctly interpreting what little of Kakashi's face he could see. "Don't think you still have the advantage."

"Oh? And why shouldn't we? You're clearly out-numbered," said Kakashi.

"That is true…but I think you're missing something," Kabuto replied.

As he said that Sakura glanced at Naruto, and immediately took a step toward him. "Naruto! What's wrong?" she yelled. Naruto was clutching his arm still; his face drained of color and was swaying slightly.

A loud _poof _got their attention and everyone turned to see Sasuke freed again, hand casually resting on the hilt of his katana.

Kakashi made a move toward Sasuke, getting ready to fight but before he could take a step Kabuto shouted, "Wait!"

He looked back at Kabuto only to find no one there. Yamato yelled at him to look around to Naruto and he saw Kabuto holding a kunai against Naruto's neck, Naruto barely standing. Kakashi looked to the wound on his arm and put two and two together. Sasuke's katana must've had poison on it.

Sakura took a step forward. "Ah-ah-ah," chided Kabuto, waving a finger, "one more step and Naruto here will be in the need of a new head."

Sakura instantly stilled. Was he serious? She couldn't take any chances, this was Kabuto after all.

Kakashi glared at him. "What do you want?"

Kabuto smiled slowly. "I'm glad you're willing to cooperate. Now, Sasuke and I didn't come here to be ambushed by a bunch of Konoha dogs. You and your team are going to retreat and go back to your village or wherever, as long as you don't follow us. Unless you want to bring back a headless comrade, that is," he added, pressing the kunai a bit harder to Naruto's neck so that a drop of blood rolled down into his collar.

Sakura paled. They needed to retreat, to do as he said, or else…But if they did, their chance to capture Sasuke would be gone as quickly as it came. That didn't matter, she told herself. What was most important was getting Naruto back.

Kakashi also thought this and agreed to Kabuto's demand.

"Perfect," said Kabuto relaxing his grip on Naruto.

Naruto, who was still conscious and listening to their conversation gathered his last bit of strength and waited until Kabuto's kunai was safely away before lunging sideways at Sasuke. Sasuke quickly pulled out a kunai but Naruto took hold of it with his bare hand and gripped it, feeling its sharp edge cut through his palm.

Blocking Sasuke's punch with his knee, Naruto threw a left hook and made contact with Sasuke's jaw. At the same time Kakashi and Yamato engaged in combat with Kabuto and Sakura moved behind Sasuke.

Sasuke angered by Naruto's last attack and at his own lack of concentration activated his sharingan. Naruto, realizing a second too late what he was doing suddenly found himself trapped in a genjutsu. But something was wrong, he noticed. As soon as the jutsu was cast his vision was filled with a bright light, and he knew this was not Sasuke's doing. Sasuke, instead of finding himself in control was experiencing the same thing as Naruto. Images rushed through both of their heads and his genjutsu broke.

Sasuke staggered backwards, affected but still able to move normally. Naruto, however, fell to the ground and blacked out, weakened from the poison in his veins. Sakura yelled out and was at his side in a moment, prepared to continue the fight with Sasuke but when she looked up, Sasuke wasn't there anymore.

She heard a shuffling sound and Kakashi yelling, "No!" Turning around she saw Kakashi and Yamato by themselves, tired but unhurt, Kabuto and Sasuke nowhere to be found. Yamato ran his fingers through his hair and swore.

"What happened?" Sakura asked.

"We were battling Kabuto when Sasuke came out of nowhere and blocked our attacks. When he did Kabuto took hold of Sasuke and must've used one of Orochimaru's techniques to escape. We could probably still catch them but…" Kakashi said, looking at Naruto's unconscious form.

Sakura looked down too and shook her head. She wanted to go after them but Naruto was injured and needed to be treated right away. She didn't know what sort of poison was in his body and whether or not it would take a day or an hour to become fatal. "No…I need to treat Naruto right away, and then he needs to be brought back to the village right away. It is too dangerous not to."

Kakashi and Yamato agreed. Sakura sighed. "Naruto is going to be angry with us for not going after them."

Yamato smiled. "Well, he won't be awake to argue with us, so we should get him back before he does find out."

"Right," Sakura said, standing up. Kakashi came over and lifted Naruto onto his back and they headed back to the village, the taste of disappointment fresh on their tongues.

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><p><strong>Well, this came out later than expected but at least it wasn't three months later than expected haha. I hope you liked it, this was my first time writing out a fight and I hope I didn't mess it up. If you find any mistakes or have any questions don't hesitate to PM me or mention it in a review (hint, hint). We are very close to the end and I'm thankful for those who have stuck with this story, so thank you! And thank you so much for the kind reviews last time, hopefully I'll get more this time. Until next chapter then :)<strong>


	14. All is Not Lost

**Hello! No, this is not the last chapter, if you are wondering (because the end of this chapter kind of seems like it..but it isn't…not yet!). And I'd like to, again, apologize for the late update. But hey, what can you do? (I know, I know ) This chapter might be a bit confusing with all of the 'this Sasuke, that Naruto' stuff but I hope you get through it alright. Thanks again for the feedback, I appreciate all of it. Enjoy :)**

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><p><strong>All is Not Lost<strong>

There was a blinding white light, a rushing sound and the feeling of being weightless. He was in a place of nonexistence and yet, he was still himself, alive. And someone else was there too, next to him. But where? Everything was so bright, he couldn't see anything. It was then when he heard a voice in the distance.

_Open your eyes.  
><em>  
>His eyes opened and he saw the same white light, surrounding his body. Looking to his right, Naruto saw that Sasuke was there too, his eyes still closed. For once, the look of complete calm was disrupted and his face betrayed his emotions. He was frowning. Naruto wondered if Sasuke was seeing the same light that Naruto did when he closed his eyes.<p>

"Sasuke."

Sasuke's eyes opened and found Naruto, or at least seemed to look in his general direction. "Naruto? What is this?" Sasuke asked, his eyes squinting as if he couldn't see properly.

"I was going to ask you that, you didn't do this?"

"No," Sasuke answered.

"Huh. I wonder what this place is."

"It's so dark, everything is black, I can't tell where we are," said Sasuke.

"Dark? What are you talking about?"

"What do you think idiot, I'm talking about wherever we are."

"Like I said, I don't know what you're talking about. I can see just fine, everything is white, there isn't anything here." Naruto said.

"You can see me?" Sasuke asked.

"Yea, you can't see me?

"No."

Naruto saw Sasuke squint in his general direction again and figured out that him and Sasuke must be seeing different things. He reached out and put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"See? I'm right here." Naruto said. Sasuke blinked and looked around.

"I…can see now," Sasuke said. Naruto was puzzled, could Sasuke see because he was touching him?

Just then, something in the landscape started to change. The air itself seemed to be vibrating and then color appeared and surrounded them. Suddenly they were in a forest, a familiar one, with a great stone wall just beyond the tree line. Naruto knew where they were, they were just outside the village. In fact, he thought, looking around some more, this looks exactly like where I was attacked by Itachi.

As if on cue, Itachi landed on the ground before them and jumped into the shrubs, completely hidden from view. Naruto looked at Sasuke and saw how tense he was, his face arranged into a mask of fury. He slowly pulled out his katana and began edging his way towards his brother's hiding spot. Naruto flung out an arm and put his finger to his lips.

"Shh, someone else is coming."

They quickly backed behind some trees and Naruto peeked around to get a look at who was coming. What he saw completely shocked him. There, walking towards them was another Naruto, but Naruto knew he hadn't created any clones. Was someone transformed as him? He decided to wait and see what the fake Naruto did. As the other Naruto got closer and closer to Itachi he wondered what the older Uchiha would do.

Naruto heard a small gasp come from Sasuke and turned around. What he was seeing was two Sasukes, the one he came with and another right next to him.

"What the?" Naruto half-shouted. This wasn't making any sense, why were there two Narutos and two Sasukes? The other Sasuke however, didn't seem to notice either of them, even as close as they were. Sasuke, not hesitating a second, stabbed a kunai through the other Sasuke, but instead of making contact he just slid through. Now he knew, thought Sasuke, this was a genjutsu. A genjutsu Itachi must have transferred to him from the last time they saw each other…at this same place. He backed away and looked towards where the other Naruto was quickly approaching his brother, hiding in the forest.

Naruto also figured it was a genjutsu and continued following the other Naruto's movement, waiting to see what would happen. As he was about to cross in front of where Itachi was hiding he saw his double stand still and, what looked like, release chakra. Almost as if…he was under a genjutsu!? Naruto realized what was about to happen a split second before it actually did. He saw his double call out and Itachi emerge from behind a tree. Just like before, they exchanged a few words and he watched as his double went stiff and, a second later, fell to the ground motionless.

That was it? All of that time in that horrible place, watching everyone die, being tortured and it only took a second in real life? He shuddered. Never again. He heard the sound of movement next to him and remembered that Sasuke was still there. Along with the other Sasuke, who was still watching the scene unfold in front of him. Naruto couldn't be sure but did he actually look agitated? Both of them, he thought, looking at the small beads of sweat drop from their foreheads. Was he nervous?

But why would he be nervous?

"Sasuke?" he asked tentatively. Sasuke turned towards and his eyes widened, as if he was surprised Naruto was still there. Naruto was about to ask what was wrong when he heard a shout of pain. Both he and Sasuke turned to the scene before them and Naruto couldn't help but flinch. Itachi was now kicking him in the chest and even from where they were standing; Naruto could hear his own bones breaking on impact. But he did notice that every time Itachi kicked him he would look up and over in their direction, like he knew someone was there.

He continued to injure the other Naruto until, getting a kunai out to possibly give the finishing blow, Sasuke shouted, "Stop!"

Naruto quickly turned to stop him but stopped when he realized it was the other Sasuke that was approaching Itachi. As the other Sasuke jumped out, katana in his hand, Naruto tried to get the real Sasuke's attention. But, every time he whispered "pst, Sasuke," he would never answer. Instead, he was looking away, ignoring him. Naruto crossed his arms and frowned. Why was he ignoring him? He knew now, because of this genjutsu, that Sasuke was there when Itachi attacked him. What he wanted to know what why.

He also wanted to know who cast this genjutsu. He bet Sasuke already knew. His attention was once again diverted as he heard Itachi say something to Sasuke.

"– you so long?" Itachi said, lowering his kunai.

The other Sasuke said nothing but raised his katana instead. Itachi smirked and took a step away from Naruto, lying on the ground.

"Do you intend to fight me, little brother?" Itachi said. "Don't you think getting Naruto here to a safe place would be better? After all…he will die if you don't help him."

Naruto couldn't see Sasuke's face from where he was but he could see his arms lower a little. Naruto looked sideways at the Sasuke next to him to see his reaction but he was facing away from him too. He wanted to ask him so bad, why didn't he ambush his brother instead of stalling?

Itachi was amused. He could see the conflict in Sasuke's eyes. Fight him or save Naruto? Well, which one will it be, Sasuke, he mused.

"Or do you not care about him anymore? The boy who betrayed his village to go with Orochimaru, don't tell me you still care about them?" Itachi taunted.

"I have no village, I care for nothing but power. The power to kill you," Sasuke hissed.

"And yet you still have done nothing, perhaps you need more persuading?" said Itachi, lowering his kunai to Naruto's throat. He looked at Sasuke once more before lunging. Itachi's kunai went flying as Sasuke's katana came flashing towards him. Itachis face betrayed his shock for a moment before he regained his composure. To be honest, he wasn't completely sure what Sasuke would do, how far the darkness had consumed him. But now, he thought; now he knew for sure.

A hint of a smile played on his lips as he made a hand sign. Sasuke, expecting a fight now, moved toward his older brother. Itachi dodged him and quickly moved forward. Sasuke tensed, preparing for contact but jerked back when Itachi poked him, hard, in the forehead. Sasuke blinked, reeling from the familiar gesture and in that moment Itachi disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Sasuke stood there silently for a little while more before sheathing his katana and bending down to pick up the unconscious Naruto. Picking him up, Sasuke leapt towards the direction of the main gate and disappeared behind the trees.

Naruto was slightly shocked. He couldn't believe Sasuke chose to save him rather than pursue his brother. Does that mean he still cares what happens to him? It certainly looked that way. And he was just starting to think he would never be like that…

He turned towards Sasuke not really sure what he was going to ask, but wanting to say something nonetheless.

"Hey, Sasuke, wait up!" he shouted, jogging a bit to catch up with Sasuke who had started walking away. Sasuke, of course, ignored him. Naruto frowned. He had had enough of his attitude. Creating shadow clones he ran ahead of Sasuke and blocked his way.

Sasuke stopped. "Let me through, Naruto."

"No. Not until you answer a question."

"I'm warning you," said Sasuke, reaching for his katana. Naruto took a fighting stance, staring Sasuke hard in the eyes.

"Why even bother, we're in a genjutsu right? What we should be doing is trying to figure out how to get out of it."

"Knowing Itachi…this genjutsu will release itself on its own."

"Itachi? Itachi was the one that cast this genjutsu? But how?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke seemed to debate answering him for a second but conceded in the end. "He must've put it on me when he attacked me here before."

"And when we attacked each other…it was released?"

Sasuke gave a slight nod of his head in confirmation.

"Weird," Naruto marveled. So, Itachi wanted to show him…no both of them what just happened? Naruto smiled. He hated to admit it, but he owed him one. If things had been going on the way that they were…who's to say he would've gave up on trying to change Sasuke. But now…

Naruto got rid of his clones and stood next to Sasuke. Sasuke just stared at him, leaning away with a slightly annoyed look on his face. "Why do you have that stupid look on your face? Get away from me."

Naruto put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and grinned. "Because, I still have hope."

Then, everything went black and he knew no more.

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><p><strong>Don't forget to comment ;D<strong>


	15. Under the Same Sky

**Author's Note: **Hey guys, sorry this is so late, I've been super busy. College, you know? But anyways, here it is, I hope you think it's okay :/ As always, reviews are appreciated.

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><p><strong>Under the Same Sky<strong>

Konoha's hospital was quiet, even with the window open. It was late in the night and the only light on in the room was the small lamp that lay next to the bed. The glow was casting a soft orange light that, despite the lamp's size, reached a fair amount around the room. Sakura was having trouble staying up, the room shifting in and out of focus as her eyelids drooped.

Kakashi and the rest of the team that had been sent out had reached the village by evening that day and Naruto was immediately checked in to get a diagnoses. As Sakura had thought, he was suffering from a dose of poison that had made its way into his body after getting injured by Sasuke's katana. Thankfully she had removed most the poison on the way to Konoha but didn't have the necessary ingredients to create an antidote.

And so, there lay Naruto, asleep in a hospital bed. Again. Sakura sighed, why was it always him? She wanted him to hurry up and wake up but at the same time she was nervous for when he did. Sakura knew that when she told him they hadn't been successful in bringing Sasuke back his face would adopt that devastated look. She hated seeing him that way. She was just as upset about Sasuke as he was but it was obvious that he took it harder than her. _It's my fault_, she thought, _all because of that stupid and irresponsible promise back then._

The more her guilt ate away at her the more confused she was about how to ease it. At first she figured that she would get stronger and rescue Sasuke herself, but no matter how much she trained and studied, Sasuke was still able to overpower her. So now, in what way could she help Naruto to atone for her past mistakes? She was always healing him, but anyone could do that. Naruto would often say that just her being there was enough but it wasn't, not for her.

She gazed at his peaceful face, mouth slightly ajar. She smiled; he looked like he was having a good, deep sleep. Yawning, Sakura moved closer to his bed and took his hand in hers. Naruto twitched in his sleep and a piece of his hair fell into his eyes. Noticing this, Sakura went to go move it away with her hand. She gently set the hair back in place, her hand lingering near his face.

When Naruto wasn't wearing his headband his face transformed. Sakura didn't think Naruto wasn't good-looking but she never thought he was…very attractive. But, in that moment, looking at his relaxed face with his hair covering his forehead, Sakura had the thought that he was handsome. Shiny blonde hair, clear cerulean eyes, a strong jaw line…why was it that she was so aware of him now? Almost against her will, she gently stroked his face, tiny hairs obstructing what would normally be smooth had he of shaved that day.

Her gaze trailed down to his lips, then to his neck and the rest of her view was obscured by a thin white hospital sheet. Her hand still on his face, Sakura was suddenly embarrassed by her train of thought and blushed, mentally scolding herself. What in the world was wrong with her?

"You're blushing Sakura," said a voice with a hint of amusement in it.

Sakura started and looked up, Naruto's eyes making contact with hers. He must've woken up just a second ago and witnessed her…small episode.

"Naruto!" I'm so glad you're okay," she said, hastily pulling her hand away. Naruto reached out and pulled it back to his face. He sighed and leaned in towards her hand, smiling.

"I liked it where it was."

Sakura blushed profusely and looked away. Naruto saw this and let go of her hand.

"What's wrong with you? Usually you'd try and hit me or something. Are you tired?"

Sakura cleared her throat and chanced a glance at him. She wasn't spazzing out so she figured whatever was wrong with her has already passed.

Willing her blush to go away she answered, "Yeah, I've been up for hours and hours waiting for your sorry butt to finally wake up."

Naruto smiled guiltily.

"Sorry about that. By the way…why am I here again?"

Sakura leaned back. _Straight to the point then, I guess._

"You don't remember?"

Naruto paused and held up his finger, "Hold on a second."

He remembered they met Sasuke in the forest…and then they all engaged in a fight…oh, and when Sasuke tried to use his sharingan on him they were flung into that genjutsu of Itachi's. Naruto smiled at the memory, he wasn't sure if it could be counted as a happy one but at least it answered some of his questions. He looked up at Sakura who was patiently awaiting his answer.

"Sakura! I remember! And, I have something really great to tell you," Naruto said, sitting up in bed.

Sakura's head tilted to the side in confusion. "Alright…what is it?"

Naruto beamed and launched into the story of what happened between Sasuke and him; how Sasuke had come to his rescue…sort of, how he had carried him to the village, how it was Itachi's jutsu that allowed him to see this, everything. Sakura sat, stunned into silence the entire time.

Could she really believe that this all happened, could she really believe that inside Sasuke there was actually a shred of emotion that he cared for them, just a little bit?

"So, crazy right?" Naruto said.

Sakura blinked, still a bit dazed. "Yeah. Yeah, definitely crazy."

Naruto beamed and Sakura smiled back. Suddenly, they both burst out laughing. All of the tension, the guilt, the sadness; it was all lifted at the prospect of hope. A bit of hope that somehow, someday; they would bring Sasuke back.

They settled down and Sakura tried to stifle another yawn, feeling sleepy.

"Why don't you sleep Sakura? I'm going to get up and walk around a bit, I feel pretty sluggish. You can take the bed," said Naruto, getting out of bed.

"Oh, no I'm fine and you should still be resting," she said, rising out of her seat to try and stop him.

Naruto waved her away. "No, you know I'm fine and that chair looks really uncomfortable. It's 3 a.m., just sleep until the sun comes up and then we can get out of here."

Sakura plopped back down in the chair. "I guess that'd be okay. Just make sure you come back, you're not cleared to check out yet."

Naruto chuckled. "I promise I won't try to escape like last time. I'll be back. Sleep well, Sakura," he said and walked out the door.

Sakura sighed and tentatively laid down in the bed. It was still warm. She cuddled up under the sheets and hugged them to her face, breathing in a faint citrus scent that was mixed in with the sterile smell of the hospital. She smiled and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Naruto quietly snuck out of the hospital doors, the receptionist at the desk currently taking a bathroom break. He would get back before anyone noticed, but he really didn't feel like roaming the halls until the sun rose. So, instead he figured he would roam the streets of Konoha, going by all of his frequent haunts. He passed Ichiraku, the small ramen stand dark and quiet, waiting for morning until it could open again. He then passed close to the Uchiha compound, caution tape still lining some of the building's entrances.

Naruto looked towards the sky and reached out his hand. The moon was almost full, its light illuminating the small path that lead towards the training grounds. Right now, he and Sasuke were living under the same sky. The sky might be large but the thought of them looking at the same moon, seeing the same stars made it seem so much smaller. He clenched his fist and pumped it in the direction of the moon.

"I'll bring you back. I promised."

By now the sky was beginning to lighten and he guessed it was close to daybreak. _Better get back to the hospital_, he thought, changing his direction and heading back.

He quickly snuck back into the hospital, making sure the receptionist wasn't paying attention when he did. Arriving at his designated room, he made his way in and slowly closed the door behind him. Sakura was still asleep, her deep breathing the only sound in the room.

Naruto made his way over to the bed and sat on the edge. He didn't want to wake her but at the same time she couldn't sleep here forever. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he gently shook her awake.

"Sakura, it's time to wake up."

Sakura let out a small sigh and opened her eyes. She rolled over and saw Naruto sitting on the bed.

"You came back."

Naruto smiled. "Of course I did. Now, let's get out of here."

After freshening up a bit, they walked down to the front counter and made sure he was free to go before walking outside. Two steps out, Naruto's stomach growled loudly. He quickly covered his stomach and grinned sheepishly.

"I guess I'm hungry."

"Well, how about we go get some breakfast then?" Sakura asked, pointedly looking away.

"Really? You mean together?" Naruto asked, surprised.

"Yes I mean together is that really so strange?" Sakura asked.

"A bit, actually," Naruto replied. Sakura just shrugged and started heading in the direction of Ichiraku.

They ate ramen, chattering away about random things. Overall it was a pleasant breakfast, considering they were having such heavy food so early in the morning. They left about an hour later, taking the long way back to Sakura's house. Since they had just finished a mission they had a day vacation to rest and get ready for whatever it was they had to do next.

"Why are you smiling so much?" asked Sakura, walking beside Naruto.

Naruto shrugged and smiled bigger. "I'm just happy."

"About Sasuke?"

"Yeah. But other things too. Like having breakfast with you."

Sakura lightly punched him on the shoulder. "Oh please, that couldn't have made you that happy."

Naruto shook his head. "No, it really did. Whenever I'm by you I'm always happy."

Sakura looked away and stared at the ground. There he goes again saying such silly things…not that it didn't make her happy though.

"You're so cheesy."

"Maybe. But why won't you look me in the eye? If I had said that any other day you would've scoffed and said something insulting," Naruto said, leaning over to see her face clearly.

Sakura turned away even more. She didn't want him to see that she was blushing.

"I'm not that harsh, you're exaggerating."

Naruto chuckled. "Actually you can be pretty harsh sometimes, Sakura. I can't believe you don't see yourself clearly."

Sakura stopped and looked up at him. "Do you really think that?"

Naruto stared down at her discouraged face. "Well, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't true –"

Sakura blinked and looked away. So he thought she was mean…

Naruto frowned and stepped in front of her. Sakura took a step back.

"What's wrong?" he asked. When she didn't respond he started to get worried.

"Hey, hey, hey. Wait a second, I didn't mean it. Well, I did. But, it's not a bad thing!" Naruto said, waving his hands frantically.

Sakura glanced up and pouted. "How so?"

Naruto smiled, glad she was listening. "You can be harsh Sakura, but what you say is always right. You're strong and you're not afraid to say what you want to. You're honest and good and if you say something harsh it's only because you have the other person's best interests at heart."

Sakura stared at him, dumbfounded.

"W-what?" Naruto stammered, suddenly very self-conscious.

Sakura stepped forward and took his hand in hers. She yanked him forward and started to walk. Naruto stumbled, bemused.

"Sakura, you're still holding my hand."

Sakura smiled and looked back, blushing a little.

"I know."

Naruto regained his balance and fell into step beside her, still holding her hand. He noticed her red cheeks and looked away embarrassed and a little more than a bit confused. Naruto looked up at the sky and saw the moon, faded but still there, fighting to make itself seen, even in the daylight. He closed his eyes and noted how everything he had wished for was slowly being granted. In that moment Naruto felt truly blessed.

"Do you really think we'll get Sasuke back?" He asked her.

Sakura looked up and smiled, squeezing his hand.

"Of course we will."

Naruto smiled, for once completely at ease, remaining so as they made their way back to her house, holding hands the entire way.

**THE END.**

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><p><strong>I'd just like to say thank you for all of those that have stayed with this story since the beginning and also to those that have joined along the way. Sorry for the ending, I know it was pretty abrupt but I had never intended this story to go on for very long anyways. This is my first completed fanfic and I do apologize for the ending but if I'm being honest I just didn't have the spirit to keep this going. I'm not sure if I'll do another Naruto story anytime soon; I'm not very confident on how this one turned out. But eventually I'll get around to another one. In the meantime I'll be working on a different story, and hopefully I'll be able to crank out some Naruto-themed one-shots while I'm at it. Thanks again, and remember, if you liked it, review please :). <strong>


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